THE   SACRED   TREE 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


OR 


THE  TREE 
IN  RELIGION  AND  MYTH 


BY 

MRS.  J.    H.   PHILPOT 


3L0nHon 
MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

NEW  YORK:    THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1897 

All  rights  resoled 


IS/, 


PREFACE 

THE  reader  is  requested  to  bear  in  mind  that  this 
volume  lays  no  claim  to  scholarship,  independent 
research,  or  originality  of  view.  Its  aim  has  been 
to  select  and  collate,  from  sources  not  always  easily 
accessible  to  the  general  reader,  certain  facts  and 
conclusions  bearing  upon  a  subject  of  acknowledged 
interest.  In  so  dealing  with  one  of  the  many  modes 
of  primitive  religion,  it  is  perhaps  inevitable  that 
the  writer  should  seem  to  exaggerate  its  importance, 
and  in  isolating  a  given  series  of  data  to  undervalue 
the  significance  of  the  parallel  facts  from  which  they 
are  severed.  It  is  undeniable  that  the  worship  of 
the  spirit -inhabited  tree  has  usually,  if  not  always, 
been  linked  with,  and  in  many  cases  overshadowed 
by  other  cults ;  that  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  sacred 
springs  and  stones,  holy  mountains,  and  animals  of 
the  most  diverse  kind,  have  all  been  approached 
with  singular  impartiality  by  primitive  man,  as  en- 
shrining or  symbolising  a  divine  principle.  But  no 
other  form  of  pagan  ritual  has  been  so  widely  dis- 
tributed, has  left  behind  it  such  persistent  traces, 
or  appeals  so  closely  to  modern  sympathies  as  the  / 
worship  of  the  tree ;  of  none  is  the  study  better 


325123 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


calculated  to  throw  light  on  the  dark  ways  of  primitive 
thought,  or  to  arouse  general  interest  in  a  branch  of 
research  which  is  as  vigorous  and  fruitful  as  it  is  new. 
For  these  reasons,  in  spite  of  obvious  disadvantages, 
its  separate  treatment  has  seemed  to  the  writer  to  be 
completely  justifiable. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

TREE-WORSHIP — ITS    DISTRIBUTION    AND    ORIGIN 

Primitive  conception  of  the  tree-spirit — Illustrations  of  the  evidence  for  tree- 
worship  :  from  archaeology,  from  folk-lore,  from  literature,  from  contempo- 
rary anthropology — Earliest  record  of  tree-worship,  the  cylinders  of  Chaldaea 
—  The  symbol  of  the  sacred  tree  ;  its  development  —  Meaning  of  the 
symbol — Tree-worship  amongst  the  Semites — Canaanitish  tree-worship — 
The  ashera — The  decoration  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem — Tree-worship  in 
ancient  Egypt — The  sacred  sycamores  —  Survival  of  the  worship  in  the 
Soudan  and  in  Africa  generally — Osiris,  originally  a  tree-god  ;  compared 
with  other  vegetation  spirits  —  Tammuz,  Adonis,  Attis,  Dionysus — The 
sacred  trees  of  the  Persians — Tree-worship  still  existent  in  India  ;  evidence 
of  its  ancient  prevalence — Its  incorporation  in  Buddhism — Other  instances 
of  tree- worship  in  the  East — The  evidence  from  America. 

Greek  and  Roman  tree -worship — The  German  religion  of  the  grove — Persist- 
ence of  the  belief  in  tree-spirits  in  Russia,  Poland,  and  Finland — Sacred 
trees  in  mediaeval  France — The  rites  of  the  Druids  —  Evidence  of  tree- 
worship  in  Saxon  England  ;  its  survival  in  May -day  customs  —  General 
conclusions  as  to  the  ancient  prevalence  of  tree-worship — Its  origin  ;  views 
of  Robertson  Smith,  Herbert  Spencer,  and  Grant  Allen  .  .  Page  I 

CHAPTER  II 

THE    GOD    AND    THE    TREE 

Tree-spirits  divisible  into  tree-gods  and  tree-demons  —  The  gods  of  antiquity 
subject  to  physical  limitations,  and  approachable  only  through  their  material 
embodiment  or  symbol — This  embodiment  frequently  a  tree — The  syca- 
mores of  Egypt  believed  to  be  inhabited  by  deities — Developments  of  this 
conception — In  Greece  the  tree  one  of  the  earliest  symbols  of  the  god — 
The  chief  Greek  gods  in  their  origin  deities  of  vegetation — The  ritual  of  the 
tree — The  tree  dressed  or  carved  to  represent  an  anthropomorphic  god — 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


Late  survival  of  this  custom  amongst  the  classical  nations — Its  prevalence  in 
other  countries. 

The  god's  own  tree — Zeus  and  the  oak — Apollo  and  the  laurel — Aphrodite 
and  the  myrtle — Athena  and  the  olive — The  association  of  a  particular  god 
with  a  particular  tree  not  known  amongst  the  Semites — The  bodhi- trees 
or  trees  of  wisdom  of  the  Buddhas — The  sculptures  of  Bharhut — Brahma 
and  the  golden  lotus — The  holy  basil  of  India — The  grove  of  Upsala,  the 
home  of  Woden — Taara  and  the  oak — The  great  oak  at  Remove. 

Gifts  to  the  tree  :  in  Arabia,  in  Egypt,  in  Greece — Dedication  of  arms,  trophies, 
etc. 

The  use  of  branches  and  wreaths  in  religious  ceremonies — The  procession  of  the 
sacred  bough  in  Greek  festivals — The  ceremonial  use  of  branches  common 
throughout  the  East. 

The  tree  as  sanctuary  and  asylum       .....      Page  24 

CHAPTER  III 

WOOD-DEMONS    AND    TREE-SPIRITS 

General  characteristics  of  the  tree-demon — The  fabulous  monsters  of  Chaldaea — 
The  jinni  of  Arabia — The  hairy  monsters  of  the  Bible — The  tree-demons 
of  Egypt — The  woodland  creatures  of  Greece — Centaurs  and  cyclops — Pan, 
satyrs,  and  sileni — The  fauns  and  silvani  of  Italy — Female  woodland 
spirits — The  hamadryads — Alexander  and  the  flower-maidens — The  vine- 
women  of  Lucian — Corresponding  instances  in  modern  folk-lore — The  soul 
of  the  nymph  actually  held  to  inhabit  the  tree — The  belief  that  blood  would 
flow  when  the  tree  was  injured — Examples  from  Virgil,  Ovid,  and  from 
modern  folk-lore — Indian  belief  in  wood-spirits. 

The  wood-spirits  of  Central  and  North  Europe — Their  general  characteristics — 
The  moss-women— The  wild  women  of  Tyrol — The  wood-spirits  of  the 
Grisons — The  white  and  green  ladies  —  The  Swedish  tree -spirit — The 
Russian  Ljeschi — The  Finnish  Tapio — The  Tengus  of  Japan — Wood-demons 
of  Peru  and  Brazil  .  .  .  .  .  .  52 

CHAPTER  IV 

THE    TREE    IN    ITS-   RELATION    TO    HUMAN    LIFE 

The  tree  represented  as  the  progenitor  of  the  human  race  ;  as  related  in  the 
Eddas  ;  in  Iranian  mythology  ;  amongst  the  Sioux  Indians — The  classical 
view — Human  beings  represented  as  the  fruit  of  a  tree — Individual  births 
from  a  tree — Mythical  births  beneath  a  tree ;  Zeus  ;  Hermes  ;  Hera  ; 
Apollo  and  Artemis  ;  Romulus  and  Remus. 

Metamorphoses — Apollo  and  Daphne — Meaning  of  the  legend — The  daughters 
of  Clymene — Baucis  and  Philemon — Other  instances  of  metamorphosis — The 
growth  of  flowers  from  the  blood  of  the  dead,  or  from  the  tears  shed  over 


CONTENTS 


them — Transmigration   of  souls   into    trees — Tristram    and    Iseult — Sweet 

William  and  Fair  Margaret — Other  instances. 
The  conception  of  the  tree  as  sympathetically  interwoven  with  human  life — The 

family  tree — The   community  tree — The  fig-tree  in  the  Roman  Comitium 

— The  patrician  and  plebeian  myrtle-trees. 
The  tree  as  the  symbol  of  reproductive  energy — The  Semitic  mother-goddess — 

Interpretation  of  the  Chaldaean  sacred  tree  as  the  symbol  of  fertility — The 

tree-inhabiting  spirit  of  vegetation  as  the  patron  of  fertility — Observances 

connected  therewith       ......      Page  72 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    TREE    AS    ORACLE 

The  oracular  power  a  corollary  to  the  belief  in  the  tree-inhabiting  gcd — Connection 
of  the  tree-oracle  with  the  earth-oracle — The  oracles  of  the  Chaldaeans — 
Canaanite  tree-oracles — "The  tree  of  the  soothsayers" — The  oracular  oak 
of  Zeus  at  Dodona — The  oracle  of  Zeus  Ammon — The  prophetic  laurel  of 
Delphi — Oracular  trees  in  Armenia,  in  Arabia — Alexander  the  Great  and 
the  Persian  tree-oracles — The  prophetic  ilex  grove  at  Rome— Other  Italian 
tree  -  oracles  :  at  Tibur  ;  at  Preneste — Tree -omens — Legends  of  speaking 
trees — Oracle -lots — The  origin  of  the  divining-rod  —  Cut  rods  believed 
to  retain  some  of  the  divine  power  resident  in  the  tree — The  life-rood — 
The  divining-rod  a  survival  of  the  tree-oracle — Its  modern  use — Divination 
by  roots  and  leaves  .  .  .  .  .  .  -93 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    UNIVERSE-TREE 

Wide  distribution  of  the  conception — Its  plausibility  to  the  primitive  mind  ; 
especially  to  the  inhabitants  of  level  countries — Earliest  version  of  the 
world-tree  found  in  an  Accadian  hymn  of  great  antiquity — Probably  a 
poetical  amplification  of  the  sacred  spirit-inhabited  tree — The  world-tree 
and  the  world -mountain — The  two  conceptions  combined  in  the  Norse 
Yggdrasil,  as  described  in  the  Eddas — Indian  and  Persian  versions  of  the 
world-tree — Buddhist  development  of  the  idea — The  cosmogony  of  the 
Phoenicians — Egyptian  variants  ;  the  Tat-pillar  ;  the  golden  gem-bearing 
tree  of  the  sky — Traces  of  the  world-tree  in  Chinese  and  Japanese  mytho- 
logy— A  similar  tradition  amongst  North  American  Indians. 

The  Eastern  conception  of  the  stars  as  fruits  of  the  world-tree,  and  as  jewels 
hung  thereon — A  motive  common  in  Oriental  art — The  golden  apples  of  the 
Hesperides — Other  instances  of  the  world -tree  in  European  legend — 
The  monster  oak  of  the  Kalevala — Corresponding  tradition  amongst  the 
Esthonians. 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


The  food  of  the  gods,  a  conception  associated  with  that  of  the  world -tree — 
The  Persian  haoma,  a  mystical  tree,  producing  an  immortalising  juice — 
Its  terrestrial  counterpart  ;  the  haoma  sacrament — The  Vedic  soma  ;  not 
only  a  plant  but  a  powerful  deity — Identification  of  the  plant — De  Guber- 
natis  on  the  soma  ritual — The  effect  of  the  soma  drink — Corresponding 
conceptions  amongst  the  Greeks — Origin  of  the  idea  .  .  Page  109 


CHAPTER  VII 

PARADISE 

Varieties  of  the  tradition  :  (i)  as  the  seat  of  the  gods;  (2)  as  the  home  of  the 
first  parents ;  (3)  as  the  abode  of  the  blessed — All  associated  with  the 
conception  of  a  mystical  tree,  in  itself  an  idealisation  of  the  spirit- 
inhabited  tree  worshipped  on  earth — The  paradise  of  the  gods  in  Indian 
tradition  ;  its  five  miraculous  trees — The  paradise  of  Genesis  and  of  the 
Persian  sacred  books — The  tree  of  paradise  compared  with  sacred  cedar 
of  Chaldaea — paradise  as  the  abode  of  the  blessed,  a  post-exilic  tradition 
amongst  the  Jews — The  paradise  of  the  Talmud  ;  and  of  the  Koran — The 
confusion  in  the  ancient  traditions  of  paradise  partly  due  to  a  limited  con- 
ception of  space  and  to  a  belief  in  the  propinquity  of  heaven — Greek  con- 
ceptions of  paradise — Milton's  description  influenced  by  ancient  traditions 
of  an  elevated  paradise. 

The  earthly  paradise — Persistence  of  the  tradition  ;  Sir  John  Maundeville's 
version — Icelandic  tradition — The  lost  Atlantis  of  Plato  a  variant  of  the 
paradise  legend — St.  Brandan  and  the  Isle  of  Avalon — Christopher  Columbus 
— Japanese  tradition  of  an  island  of  eternal  youth,  with  its  marvellous  tree 
—  Developments  of  the  idea  of  the  tree  of  paradise — Its  representation  in 
art  .  128 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MAY    CELEBRATIONS 

Their  ancient  religious  significance — The  old  English  May-day — Fetching  in  the 
May — Puritan  condemnation  of  the  May-poles  —  Their  removal  "as  a 
heathenish  vanity  " — Existing  survivals  of  May  customs — May-day  rhymes. 

Origin  of  the  celebrations  :  I.  The  bringing  in  of  the  May-bough — Wide  distri- 
bution of  the  custom  an  evidence  of  its  antiquity — Its  original  intention — 
"The  May"  related  to  the  harvest-bush  of  France  and  Western  Germany, 
and  to  the  Greek  eiresione — Their  common  purpose,  to  bring  to  the  house  a 
share  of  the  blessings  assumed  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  tree-inhabiting 
spirit. 

2.  The  May-pole  :  its  primitive  intention  to  bring  to  the  village,  as  the  May- 
bough  to  the  family,  the  newly-quickened  generative  potency  resident  in  the 


CONTENTS 


woods — Wide  prevalence  of  the  custom — Association  of  the  May-pole  with 
a  human  image  or  doll,  representing  the  vegetation  spirit — The  Greek 
festival  of  the  little  Daedala — The  May-pole,  originally  renewed  every  year, 
became  later  a  permanent  erection,  newly  dressed  on  May-day — Assumed 
beneficent  influence  of  the  May-pole. 

3.  The  May  Queen,  May  Lady,  or  King  and  Queen  of  the  May  :  Evidence  that 
these  personages  were  originally  regarded  as  human  representatives  or  em- 
bodiments of  the  generalised  tree-soul — Often  associated  with  its  vegetable 
representative,  the  tree  or  bough  ;  or  clothed  in  leaves  and  flowers,  e.g.  the 
Green  George  of  Carinthia  and  our  Jack-in-the-Green — The  custom  general 
throughout  Europe — Robin  Hood  and  Maid  Marian  originally  King  and 
Queen  of  the  May — In  primitive  times  the  human  representative  of  the 
vegetation  spirit  probably  sacrificed,  in  order  that  the  spirit  might  pass 
to  a  more  vigorous  successor — Human  sacrifice  in  Mexico — Survival  in 
symbol  of  this  ancient  custom  in  Bavaria,  Swabia,  Saxony,  etc. 

Page  144 


CHAPTER  IX 

CHRISTMAS    OBSERVANCES 

Distinctly  pagan  in  their  origin,  and  adapted  to  Christian  use  under  the  influence 
of  the  Church — The  Roman  Saturnalia — The  use  of  mistletoe  a  direct 
legacy  from  the  Druids — The  decoration  of  the  house  with  evergreens  also  a 
Druidic  custom. 

The  Christmas-tree;  its  introduction  into  England  extremely  recent;  not 
universally  established  in  Germany,  the  land  of  its  origin,  until  the  present 
century — References  to  it  by  Goethe  and  Schiller- — Earliest  record  from 
Strasburg  about  1600  A.D. — Theological  disapproval — Theories  as  to  its 
origin — Probably  connected  with  the  legend  of  Christmas  flowering  trees — 
Examples — The  Glastonbuiy  thorn — Mannhardt's  view  ;  a  decorated  tree 
the  recognised  scenic  symbol  of  Christmas  in  the  paradise  play  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  wherein  the  story  of  the  Fall  was  dramatically  associated  with 
that  of  the  Nativity — An  ancient  German  custom  to  force  into  flower  boughs 
cut  on  a  sacred  night  during  the  great  autumn  festival — The  date  of  sever- 
ance delayed  under  priestly  influence  so  that  the  boughs  might  flower  at 
Christmas — Instances  of  the  survival  of  this  custom — The  lights  on  the 
Christmas-tree  a  comparatively  recent  innovation — Legends  of  light-bearing 
trees — The  lights  possibly  derived  from  ancient  solstitial  observances — The 
Christmas-tree  an  illustration  of  the  blending  of  pagan  and  mediaeval  ideas 
— A  point  in  which  the  many  phases  of  tree-worship  converge  .  162 

INDEX  175 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


SacrecLtree  with  its  supporters,  from  St.  Mark's,  Venice        Frontispiece 

i,  2,  3.    Rudimentary  and  conventionalised  forms  of  the  sacred 

tree       .......  5 

4.    Sacred  tree  with  its  supporters,  surmounted  by  the  winged 

disc,  from  an  Assyrian  cylinder  ...  6 

.5     Sacred  tree,  from  the  Temple  of  Athena  at  Pryene 

6.  The  same,  from  a  sculptured  slab  in  the  Treasury  of  St. 

Mark's,  Venice  .....  7 

7.  A  Ba  or  soul  receiving  the  lustral  water  from  a  tree-goddess  10 

8.  Sacred  tree  with  worshippers,  from  eastern  gateway  at  Sanchi          i  5 

9.  Sacred  tree,  from  a  Mexican  manuscript      .  17 

10.  The  goddess  Nuit  in  her   sacred  sycamore  bestowing  the 

bread  and  water  of  the  next  world  .  .  .26 

1 1.  Sacred  tree  of  Dionysus,  with  a  statue  of  the  god  and  offerings          27 

12.  Sacred  pine  of  Silvanus,  with  a  bust  of  the  god,  and  votive 

gifts       .  .....  28 

13.  Fruit-tree  dressed  as  Dionysus        .  .  .  .31 

14.  15.    Forms  of  the  Tat  or  Didu,  the  emblem  of  Osiris  .          34 
1 6.   Apollo  on  his  sacred  tripod,  a  laurel  branch  in  his  hand       .          36 

i  7.   Coin  of  Athens,  of  the  age  of  Pencles  or  earlier,  showing 

olive  spray         .  .  .  .  .  .38 

1 8.  Coin  of  Athens,  third  century  B.C.  .  .  .38 

1 9.  The  Bodhi-tree  of  Kanaka  Muni     .  .  .  .41 


THE  SACKED  TREE 


FIG.  PAGE 

20.  Wild  elephants  paying  their  devotions  to  the  sacred  banian 

of  Kasyapa  Buddha        .  .  .  .  .42 

21.  Sacred  sycamore,  with  offerings      .  .  .  .44 

22.  Sacred  tree  of  Artemis,  hung  with  weapons  of  the  chase       .          45 

23.  Sacred  laurel  of  Apollo  at   Delphi,  adorned  with  fillets  and 

votive  tablets  ;   beneath  it  the  god  appearing  to  protect 
Orestes  ......          50 

24.  Imperial  coin  of  Myra  in  Lycia,  showing  tree-goddess  .          87 

25.  Sacred  tree  and  worshipper,  from  a  Chaldaean  cylinder  88 

26.  Sacred  tree  as  symbol  of  fertility,  from  an  Assyrian  bas-relief         89 

27.  Yggdrasil,  the  Scandinavian  world-tree        .  .  .115 

28.  From  a  Babylonian  seal     .  .  .  .  .130 


CHAPTER    I 

TREE-WORSHIP ITS    DISTRIBUTION    AND    ORIGIN 

IT  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  volume  to  deal  as 
concisely  as  possible  with  the  many  religious  observ- 
ances, popular  customs,  legends,  traditions  and  ideas 
which  have  sprung  from  or  are  related  to  the  primitive 
conception  of  the  tree-spirit.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  most  if  not  all  races,  at  some  period  of  their 
development,  have  regarded  the  tree  as  the  home, 
haunt,  or  embodiment  of  a  spiritual  essence,  capable 
of  more  or  less  independent  life  and  activity,  and  able 
to  detach  itself  from  its  material  habitat  and  to  appear 
in  human  or  in  animal  form.  This  belief  has  left 
innumerable  traces  in  ancient  art  and  literature,  has 
largely  shaped  the  usages  and  legends  of  the  peasantry, 
and  impressed  its  influence  on  the  ritual  of  almost  all 
the  primitive  religions  of  mankind.  There  is,  indeed, 
scarcely  a  country  in  the  world  where  the  tree  has  not 
at  one  time  or  another  been  approached  with  reverence 
or  with  fear,  as  being  closely  connected  with  some 
spiritual  potency. 

The  evidence  upon  which  this  assertion  is  based 
is  overwhelming  in  amount,  and  is  frequently  to  be 
found  in  quarters  where  until  lately  its  presence  was 

B 


.    TIf&  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 


unsuspected  or  its  significance  ignored.  For  instance, 
in  the  interior  of  that  fascinating  storehouse  of 
antiquity,  St.  Mark's  at  Venice,  there  are  embedded 
in  the  walls,  high  above  one's  head,  a  number  of 
ancient  sculptured  slabs,  on  each  of  which  a  conven- 
tionalised plant,  with  foliage  most  truthfully  and 
lovingly  rendered,  is  set  between  two  fabulous 
monsters,  as  fantastic  and  impossible  as  any  supporters 
to  be  met  with  in  the  whole  range  of  heraldry  (see 
Frontispiece).  To  the  ordinary  observer  these  strange 
sculptures  say  nothing ;  probably  he  passes  over  them 
lightly,  as  the  offspring  of  that  quaint  mediaeval  fancy 
which  was  so  prolific  in  monstrous  births.  But  the 
student  of  Oriental  art  at  once  detects  in  them  a 
familiar  design,  a  design  whose  pedigree  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  day,  six  thousand  years  ago,  when  the 
Chaldaean  Semites  were  taking  their  culture  and 
religion  from  the  old  Accadians  who  dwelt  on  the 
shores  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  In  the  central  plant  he 
recognises  the  symbol  or  ideograph  of  a  divine 
attribute  or  activity,  if  not  a  representation  of  the 
visible  embodiment  or  abode  of  a  god,  and  in  the 
raised  hand  £>r  forepaw  of  the  supporters  he  discerns 
the  conventional  attitude  of  adoration.  The  design, 
in  short,  which  was  probably  handed  on  from  Assyria 
to  Persia,  and  from  Persia  to  Byzantium,  and  so  to 
Venice,  is  a  vestige  of  that  old  world  religion  which 
regarded  the  tree  as  one  of  the  sacred  haunts  of  deity. 
Again,  the  same  conception,  the  record  of  which 
is  thus  strangely  preserved  in  the  very  fabric  of  a 
Christian  edifice,  is  to  be  traced  with  equal  certainty 
in  the  older  and  scarcely  less  permanent  fabric  of 
popular  tradition  and  custom.  The  folk-lore  of  the 
modern  European  peasant,  and  the  observances  with 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN          3 

which  Christmas,  May-day,  and  the  gathering  of  the 
harvest  are  still  celebrated  in  civilised  countries,  are 
all  permeated  by  the  primitive  idea  that  there  was  a 
spiritual  essence  embodied  in  vegetation,  that  trees, 
like  men,  had  spirits,  passing  in  and  out  amongst  them, 
which  possessed  a  mysterious  and  potent  influence 
over  human  affairs,  and  which  it  was  therefore  wise 
and  necessary  to  propitiate. 

A  third  example  of  the  less  recondite  evidence  on 
the  subject  is  to  be  found  in  the  Book  that  we  all  know 
best.  When  we  once  realise  how  deeply  rooted  and 
time-honoured  was  the  belief  that  there  was  a  spiritual 
force  inherent  in  vegetation,  we  cease  to  wonder  at 
the  perversity  with  which  the  less  cultured  Israelites 
persisted  in  planting  groves  and  setting  up  altars  under 
every  green  tree.  Read  in  the  light  of  modern  re- 
search, the  Old  Testament  presents  a  drama  of  sur- 
passing interest,  a  record  of  internecine  struggle 
between  the  aspiration  of  the  few  towards  the  worship 
of  a  single,  omnipresent,  unconditioned  God  and  the 
conservative  adhesion  of  the  many  to  the  primitive 
ritual  and  belief  common  to  all  the  Semitic  tribes. 
For  the  backsliding  children  of  Israel  were  no  more 
idolaters,  in  the  usual  meaning  of  the  word,  than  were 
the  Canaanites  whose  rites  they  imitated.  Their 
view  of  nature  was  that  of  the  primitive  Semite,  if 
not  of  the  primitive  man.  All  parts  of  nature,  in 
their  idea,  were  full  of  spiritual  forces,  more  or  less, 
but  never  completely,  detached  in  their  movements 
and  action  from  the  material  objects  to  which  they 
were  supposed  properly  to  belong.  "In  ritual  the 
sacred  object  was  spoken  of  and  treated  as  the  god 
himself;  it  was  not  merely  his  symbol,  but  his 
embodiment,  the  permanent  centre  of  his  activity,  in 


4  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

\ 

the  same  sense  in  which  the  human  body  is  the 
permanent  centre  of  man's  activity.  The  god  in- 
habited the  tree  or  sacred  stone  not  in  the  sense  in 
which  a  man  inhabits  a  house,  but  in  the  sense  in 
which  his  soul  inhabits  his  body." 

To  the  three  classes  of  evidence,  derived  respec- 
tively from  archaeology,  from  folk-lore,  and  from 
ancient  literature,  which  have  been  thus  briefly  ex- 
emplified, may  be  added  a  fourth,  equally  important 
and  prolific,  that  namely  of  contemporary  anthropology. 
Scarcely  a  book  is  printed  on  the  customs  of  un- 
civilised races  which  does  not  contribute  some  new 
fact  to  the  subject.  The  illustration  of  an  Arab 
praying  to  a  tree,  in  Slatin  Pasha's  recently  published 
volume,  is  no  surprise  to  the  anthropologist,  who  has 
learnt  to  look  for  such  survivals  of  primitive  customs 
wherever  culture  still  remains  primitive. 

Now  of  all  primitive  customs  and  beliefs  there  is 
none  which  has  a  greater  claim  upon  our  interest  than 
the  worship  of  the  tree,  for  there  is  none  which  has 
had  a  wider  distribution  throughout  the  world,  or  has 
left  a  deeper  impress  on  the  traditions  and  observances 
of  mankind.  Its  antiquity  is  undoubted,  for  when 
history  begins  to  speak,  we  find  it  already  firmly 
established  amongst  the  oldest  civilised  races.  What  is 
probably  its  earliest  record  is  met  with  on  the  engraved 
cylinders  of  Chaldaea,  some  of  which  date  back  to 
4000  B.C.  Even  at  that  period  it  would  appear  that 
the  Chaldaeans  had  advanced  beyond  the  stage  of 
crude  tree- worship,  as  found  to  this  day  amongst 
uncivilised  races,  for  the  sacred  tree  had  already 
undergone  a  process  of  idealisation.  In  a  bilingual 
hymn,  which  is  of  Accadian  origin,  and  probably  one  of 

1  Robertson  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites  (Edin.  1889),  p.  84. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN          5 

the  most  ancient  specimens  of  literature  in  existence, 
a  mystical  tree  is  described  as  the  abode  of  the  gods. 
And  it  was  probably  by  a  similar  process  of  idealisa- 
tion that  a  conventional  representation  of  the  sacred 
tree  came  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  symbols  of 
Chaldaean  religion.  This  symbol,  which  we  have 
already  seen  in  decorative  use  on  the  slabs  at  St. 
Mark's,  appears  on  the  oldest  Chaldaean  cylinders 
"  as  a  stem  divided  at  the  base,  surmounted  by  a  fork 
or  a  crescent,  and  cut,  midway,  by  one  or  more  cross 
bars  which  sometimes  bear  a  fruit  at  each  extremity. 


FIG.  i.  FIG.  2.  FIG.  3. 

Rudimentary  and  conventionalised  forms  of  the  sacred  tree. 
(From  Chaldaean  and  Assyrian  cylinders.     Goblet  d'Alviella.) 

This  rudimentary  image  frequently  changes  into  the 
palm,  the  pomegranate,  the  cypress,  vine,  etc.1  On  the 
Assyrian  monuments  of  about  1000  B.C.  and  later,  the 
figure  becomes  still  more  complex  and  more  artistically 
conventionalised,  and  it  nearly  always  stands  between 
two  personages  facing  each  other,  who  are  sometimes 
priests  or  kings  in  an  attitude  of  adoration,  sometimes 
monstrous  creatures,  such  as  are  so  often  met  with  in 
Assyro-Chaldaean  imagery,  lions,  sphinxes,  griffins, 
unicorns,  winged  bulls,  men  or  genii  with  the  head  of 
an  eagle,  and  so  forth.  Above  it  is  frequently  sus- 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  The  Migration  of  Symbols  (London,  1894),  p.  119. 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


pended  the  winged  circle,  personifying  the  supreme 
deity."  In  his  exhaustive  chapter  on  this  ancient 
design,  M.  Goblet  d'Alviella  has  shown  that  it  obtained 
a  wide  dissemination  throughout  the  world,  and  is 
used  even  to  this  day  in  the  fictile  and  textile  art  of 
the  East.1  M.  Menant  concludes  from  his  exhaustive 
study  of  the  cylinders,  that  the  worship  of  the  sacred 
tree  in  Assyria  was  intimately  associated  with  that 
of  the  supreme  deity,  its  symbol  being  incontestably 
one  of  the  most  sacred  emblems  of  the  Assyrian 
religion.2  M.  Lenormant's  view  was  that  the  winged 


FIG.  4. — Sacred  tree  with  its  sup- 
porters, surmounted  by  the  winged 
disc. 

(From  an  Assyrian  cylinder.      Goblet 
d'Alviella.) 


FIG.  5. — Sacred  tree,  much  conventionalised. 

(From  a  capital  of  the  Temple  of  Athena  at 
Pryene.     Goblet  d'Alviella.) 


circle,  in  conjunction  with  the  sacred  tree,  represented 
the  primeval  cosmogonic  pair,  the  creative  sun  and  the 
fertile  earth,  and  was  a  symbol  of  the  divine  mystery 
of  generation.3  In  Babylonia  the  sacred  tree  was  no 
doubt  closely  associated  with  Istar,  the  divine  mother, 
who  was  originally  not  a  Semitic,  but  an  Accadian 
goddess,  and  whose  cult,  together  with  that  of  her 
bridegroom  Tammuz,  was  introduced  into  Chaldaea 
from  Eridu,  a  city  which  flourished  on  the  shores  of 


1  Op.  cit.  chap.  iv. 

2  J.  Menant,  Les  Pierres  gravees  de 
la  Haute-Ssie  (Paris,  1886), ,  Part  II. 


p.  63. 

3  Les  Origines  de  FHistoire  (Paris, 
1888),  vol.  i.  p.  88. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN          7 

the  Persian  Gulf  between  3000  and  4000  B.C.1  That 
the  Accadians  were  familiar  with  the  worship  of  the 
tree  may  also  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  their  chief 
god,  Ea,  was  closely  associated  with  the  sacred  cedar, 
on  whose  core  his  name  was  supposed  to  be  inscribed. 
But  however  much  their  attitude  towards  the 
sacred  tree  may  have  been  modified  under  Accadian 
influence,  the  Chaldaeans  in  their  worship  of  the  tree 


FIG.  6. — Sacred  tree,  from  a  sculptured  slab  in  the  Treasury  of 
St.  Mark's,  Venice. 

only  followed  the  rule  of  their  Semitic  kindred,  for 
"  the  conception  of  trees  as  demoniac  beings  was 
familiar  to  all  the  Semites,  and  the  tree  was  adored  as 
divine  in  every  part  of  the  Semitic  area."  Even 
that  stationary  Semite,  the  modern  Arab,  holds  certain 
trees  inviolable  as  being  inhabited  by  spirits,  and 
honours  them  with  sacrifices  and  decorations,  and  to 
this  day  the  traveller  in  Palestine  sometimes  lights 
upon  holy  trees  hung  with  tokens  of  homage. 

1  A.  H.  Sayce,  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Babylonians  (London,  1887),  Lect.  IV. 
2  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  169. 


8  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

This  strange  persistence  of  a  primitive  religion  in 
the  very  birthplace  of  a  most  exalted  spiritual  worship  is 
an  additional  evidence  of  its  remarkable  vitality.  For 
there  is  no  country  in  the  world  where  the  tree  was 
ever  more  ardently  worshipped  than  it  was  in  ancient 
Palestine.  Amongst  the  Canaanites  every  altar  to 
the  god  had  its  sacred  tree  beside  it,  and  when  the 
Israelites  established  local  sanctuaries  under  their 
influence,  they  set  up  their  altar  under  a  green  tree, 
and  planted  beside  it  as  its  indispensable  accompani- 
ment an  ashera,  which  was  either  a  living  tree  or  a 
tree-like  post,  and  not  a  "  grove,"  as  rendered  in  the 
Authorised  Version.  This  ashera  was  undoubtedly 
worshipped  as  a  sacred  symbol  of  the  deity.  Origin- 
ally it  appears  to  have  been  associated  with  Ashtoreth 
or  Astarte,  the  Syrian  Istar,  the  revolting  character  of 
whose  worship  perhaps  explains  the  excessive  bitter- 
ness of  the  biblicar  denunciations.1  But  the  ashera 
was  also  erected  by  the  altars  of  other  gods,  and  in 
pre-prophetic  days  even  beside  that  of  Jehovah  Him- 
self, whence  it  may  be  concluded  that  "in  early  times 
tree-worship  had  such  a  vogue  in  Canaan,  that  the 
sacred  tree  or  the  pole,  its  surrogate,  had  come  to  be 
viewed  as  a  general  symbol  of  deity." :  The  great 
antiquity  of  the  cult  in  Syria  was  recognised  in  the 
local  traditions,  for  an  old  Phoenician  cosmogony, 
quoted  by  Eusebius,  states  that  "  the  first  men  conse- 
crated the  plants  shooting  out  of  the  earth,  and  judged 
them  gods,  and  worshipped  them,  and  made  meat  and 
drink  offerings  to  them."3  In  addition  to  the  ashera, 
the  Chaldaean  symbol  of  the  sacred  tree  between  its 

1  Cf.  .Ex.   xxxiv.    13  ;  Deut.  vii.    5,  2  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  172. 

xii.  3,  xvi.  21  ;  Judges  iii.    7?  vi-    25  '•>  3  Eusebius,  Praepar:  Evang.^  lib.  i. 

i    Kings  xiv.    15;  2   Kings  xvii.    16;  cap.   10. 
cf.  also  Isaiah  i.  29,  Ixv.  3,  Ixvi.  17. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN          9 

supporters  was  also  familiar  to  the  Phoenicians,  and  is 
found  wherever  their  art  penetrated,  notably  in  Cyprus 
and  on  the  archaic  pottery  of  Corinth  and  Athens.1  It 
is  highly  probable  that  both  these  sacred  symbols  had 
a  common  origin,  but  the  connection  must  have  been 
lost  sight  of  in  later  times,  for  we  find  Ezekiel,  to 
whom  the  prophetic  denunciations  of  the  asMra  must 
have  been  familiar,  decorating  the  temple  of  his  vision 
with  designs  evidently  derived  from  the  Chaldaean 
sacred  tree,  "a  palm-tree  between  a  cherub  and  a 
cherub." :  A  similar  ornamentation  with  palm-trees 
and  cherubim,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been  used 
in  the  temple  built  by  Solomon.3 

Amongst  the  ancient  Egyptians,  whose  "exuberant 
piety"  required,  according  to  M.  Maspero,  "an  actual 
rabble  of  gods  "  to  satisfy  it,  trees  were  enthusiastically 
worshipped,  side  by  side  with  other  objects,  as  the 
homes  of  various  divinities.  The  splendid  green  syca- 
mores, which  flourish  here  and  there  as  though  by 
miracle  on  the  edge  of  the  cultivated  land,  their  root- 
lets bathed  by  the  leakage  of  the,  Nile,  were  accounted 
divine  and  earnestly  worshipped  by  Egyptians  of 
every  rank,  in  the  belief  that  they  were  animated  by 
spirits,  who  on  occasion  could  emerge  from  them. 
They  were  habitually  honoured  with  fruit  offerings, 
and  the  charitable  found  an  outlet  for  their  benevolence 
in  daily  replenishing  the  water-jars  placed  beneath 
them  for  the  use  of  the  passer-by,  who  in  his  turn 
would  express  his  gratitude  for  the  boon  by  reciting  a 
prayer  to  the  deity  of  the  tree.  The  most  famous  of 
these  sycamores — the  sycamore  of  the  South — was 
regarded  as  the  living  body  of  Hathor  upon  earth  ; 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  125.  2  Ezek.  xli.  18. 

3   I  Kings  vi.  29-35. 


10 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


and  the  tree  at  Metairieh,  commonly  called  the  Tree 
of  the  Virgin,  is  probably  the  successor  of  a  sacred 
tree  of  Heliopolis,  in  which  a  goddess,  perhaps  Hathor, 
was  worshipped.1  The  district  around  Memphis  was 
known  as  the  Land  of  the  Sycamore,  and  contained 
several  trees  generally  believed  to  be  inhabited  by 
detached  doubles  of  Nuit  and  Hathor.  Similar  trees 


FIG.  7. — A  Ba  or  soul  receiving  the  lustral  water  from  a  tree-goddess. 

(From  a  painting  discovered  by  Prof.  Petrie  at  Thebes.     Illustrated  London  News, 
25th  July  1896.) 

are  worshipped  at  the  present  day  both  by  Christian 
and  Mussulman  fellahin. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  province  of  Darfur  the 
Bedeyat  Arabs,  though  surrounded  by  Moslem  tribes, 
still  adhere  to  the  same  primitive  cult.  Under  the 
wide-spreading  branches  of  an  enormous  heglik-tree, 
and  on  a  spot  kept  beautifully  clean  and  sprinkled 

1  G.  Maspero,  The  Dawn  of  Civilisation  (London,  1894),  p.  122. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN        n 

with  fine  sand,  they  beseech  an  unknown  god  to  direct 
them  in  their  undertakings  and  to  protect  them  from 
danger.1  They  have,  in  short,  retained,  in  spite  of  the 
pressure  of  Islamism,  the  old  heathen  worship  which 
still  widely  prevails  amongst  the  uncivilised  races  of 
the  African  continent.  Thus  on  the  Guinea  Coast 
almost  every  village  has  its  sacred  tree,  and  in  some 
parts  offerings  are  still  made  to  them.  The  negroes 
of  the  Congo  plant  a  sacred  tree,  before  their  houses 
and  set  jars  of  palm-wine  under  it  for  the  tree-spirit.2 
In  Dahomey  prayers  and  gifts  are  offered  to  trees  in 
time  of  sickness.  One  of  the  goddesses  of  the  Fantis 
has  her  abode  in  huge  cotton-trees.  In  the  Nyassa 
country,  where  the  spirits  of  the  dead  are  worshipped 
as  gods,  the  ceremonies  are  conducted  and  offerings 
placed  not  at  the  grave  of  the  dead  man,  but  at  the 
foot  of  the  tree  which  grows  before  his  house,  or  if 
that  be  unsuitable,  beneath  some  especially  beautiful 
tree  selected  for  the  purpose.3 

To  return  to  ancient  Egypt,  there  is  evidence  that 
the  great  Osiris  was  originally  a  tree-god.  According 
to  Egyptian  mythology,  after  he  had  been  murdered 
his  coffin  was  discovered  enclosed  in  a  tree-trunk,  and 
he  is  spoken  of  in  the  inscriptions  as  "  the  one  in  the 
tree,"  "the  solitary  one  in  the  acacia."  The  rites,  too, 
by  which  his  death  and  burial  were  annually  celebrated 
appear  to  couple  him  closely  with  Tammuz,  Adonis, 
Attis,  Dionysus,  and  other  gods  whose  worship  was 
associated  with  a  similar  ritual.4  Mr.  Frazer,  following 
Mannhardt,  contends  that  all  these  deities  were  tree- 
gods,  and  that  the  ceremonial  connected  with  their 

1  S latin  Pasha,  Fire  and  Sword  in  3  Duff  Macdonald,   Africana  (Lon- 
the  Sudan  (London,  1896),  p.  114.  don,  1882),  vol.  i.  p.  60. 

2  J.   G.   Frazer,    The  Golden  Bough  4  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  307. 
(London,  1890),  vol.  i.  p.  60. 


12  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

worship  was  symbolical  of  the  annual  death  and  revival 
of  vegetation.  It  is  certainly  true  that  in  Babylonia, 
Egypt,  Phoenicia,  and  above  all  in  Phrygia,  a  pecu- 
liarly emotional  form  of  worship,  which  subsequently 
extended  to  Cyprus,  Crete,  Greece,  and  Italy,  arose  in 
connection  with  deities  who  were  closely  associated 
with  vegetable  life.  Tammuz— 

Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allured 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate, 

and  for  whose  resuscitation  his  bride,  the  goddess 
Istar,  descended  into  Hades — was  represented  as 
originally  dwelling  in  a  tree.1  Adonis,  who  was  the 
beloved  of  Aphrodite — the  Syrian  Astarte — and  is 
Tammuz  under  another  name,  was  born  from  a  myrrh- 
tree.  Attis,  the*  favourite  of  Cybele,  who  was  wor- 
shipped with  barbarous  rites  in  Phrygia,  was  repre- 
sented in  the  form  of  a  decorated  pine-tree,  to  which 
his  image  was  attached.  Dionysus,  whose  death  and 
resurrection  were  celebrated  in  Crete  and  elsewhere, 
was  worshipped  throughout  Greece  as  "  Dionysus  of 
the  Tree."  These  facts  are  sufficient  to  warrant  the 
inference  that  tree-worship  was  very  firmly  rooted  in 
those  regions  where  the  Semitic  races  came  into 
contact  with  the  Aryans.  In  Phrygia  it  was  peculiarly 
prominent,  as  we  know  from  classical  references.  The 
archaeological  evidence  is  vague  and  incomplete,  but  a 
characteristic  device  frequent  in  Phrygian  art,  in  which 
two  animals,  usually  lions  rampant,  face  one  another 
on  either  side  of  a  pillar,  or  an  archaic  representation 
of  the  mother-goddess  Cybele,2  recalls  the  sacred  tree 
of  Babylonia.  The  device  is  familiar  in  connection 

1  A.  H.  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  238. 
2  Encyclop.   Brit.,   Qth  edition,  vol.  xviii.  p.  850. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN        13 

with  the  lion-gate  of  Mycenae,  which  was  probably 
erected  under  Phrygian  influence. 

The  Persians  venerated  trees  as  the  dwelling-place 
of  the  deity,  as  the  haunts  of  good  and  evil  spirits, 
and  as  the  habitations  in  which  the  souls  of  heroes 
and  of  the  virtuous  dead  continued  their  existence. 
According  to  Plutarch,  they  assigned  some  trees  and 
plants  to  the  good  God,  others  to  the  evil  demon.1 
The  Zend-Avesta  ordained  that  the  trees  which 
Ormuzd  had  given  should  be  prayed  to  as  pure  and 
holy,  and  adored  with  fire  and  lustral  water ; 2  and 
according  to  tradition,  when  Zoroaster  died,  Ormuzd 
himself  translated  his  soul  into  a  lofty  tree,  and 
planted  it  upon  a  high  mountain.  The  cypress  was 
regarded  by  the  Persians  as  especially  sacred.  It  was 
closely  associated  with  fire-worship,  and  was  revered 
as  a  symbol  of  the  pure  light  of  Ormuzd.  It  is  fre- 
quently represented  on  ancient  gravestones  in  con- 
junction with  the  lion,  the  symbol  of  the  sun-god 
Mithra.3  Another  venerated  tree  was  the  myrtle,  a 
.branch  of  which  was  used  as  an  essential  accompani- 
ment in  all  religious  functions.  The  observances  con- 
nected with  the  Persian  worship  of  the  Haoma  plant 
will  be  dealt  with  in  a  later  chapter.  The  Achaemenian 
kings  regarded  the  plane  as  their  peculiar  tree,  and  a 
representation  of  it  in  gold  formed  part  of  their  state. 
A  certain  plane-tree  in  Lydia  was  presented  by  Xerxes 
with  vessels  of  gold  and  costly  apparel,  and  committed 
to  the  guardianship  of  one  of  his  "  immortals." 

In  India,  where  tree-worship  once  enjoyed  a  wide 
prevalence,  it  has  left  indubitable  traces  on  the 

1  I  sis  et  Osiris,  46.  3  Sir.  W.  Ouseley,  Travels  (London, 

2  Lajard,  Le  Cttlte  du  cypres  pyra-       1819),  vol.  iii.  p.  83. 
»/£/«/ (1845),  p.  148.  4  Herodotus,  vii.  31. 


14  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

religions  which  displaced  it,  and  it  is  still  encountered 
in  its  crudest  form  amongst  some  of  the  aboriginal 
hill  tribes.  The  Garrows,  for  instance,  who  possess 
neither  temples  nor  altars,  set  up  a  bamboo  before 
their  huts,  and  sacrifice  before  it  to  their  deity.1  On 
a  mountain  in  Travancore  there  existed  until  quite 
recently  an  ancient  tree,  which  was  regarded  by  the 
natives  as  the  residence  of  a  powerful  deity.  Sacri- 
fices were  offered  to  it,  and  sermons  preached  before 
it ;  it  served,  indeed,  as  the  cathedral  of  the  district. 
At  length,  to  the  horror  of  its  worshippers,  an  English 
missionary  had  it  cut  down  and  used  in  the  construction 
of  a  chapel  on  its  site.2  The  ancient  prevalence  of 
tree -worship  in  India  is  established  by  frequent 
references  to  sacred  trees  in  the  Vedas,  and  by  the 
statement  of  Q.  Curtius  that  the  companions  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  noticed  that  the  Indians  ''reputed  as 
gods  whatever  they  held  in  reverence,  especially  trees, 
which  it  was  death  to  injure."3  This  ancient  rever- 
ence for  the  tree  was  recognised  by  Buddhism,  and 
adapted  to  its  more  advanced  mode  of  thought.  The 
asvattha  or  pippala-tree,  Ficus  Religiosa,  which  had 
previously  been  identified  with  the  supreme  deity, 
Brahma,  came  to  be  venerated  above  all  others  by  the 
special  injunction  of  Gautama,  as  that  under  which  he 
had  achieved  perfect  knowledge.4  In  his  previous 
incarnations  Gautama  himself  is  represented  as  having 
been  a  tree-spirit  no  less  than  forty-three  times.  The 
evidence  of  the  nlonuments  as  to  the  importance 
attached  to  the  tree  in  early  Buddhism  is  equally 
definite.  The  Sanchi  and  Ama-ravati  sculptures,  some 

1  R.   Folkard,  Plant-lore,  Legends,  3  Quintus  Curtius,  De  Gestis  Alex, 
and  Lyrics  (London,  1892),  p.  239.  viii.  33. 

2  M.    D.  Conway,   Demonology  and  4  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  4. 
Devil-lore  (London,  1879),  vol.  i.p.  299. 


TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN 


casts  of  which  are  in  the  British  Museum,  contain 
representations  of  the  sacred  tree  decorated  with 
garlands  and  surrounded  by  votaries,  whilst  the  wor- 
ship of  the  trees  identified  with  the  various  Buddhas 
is  repeatedly  represented  on  the  Stupa  of  Bharhut. 

There  is  very  little  evidence  of  the  existence   of 
tree-worship   amongst   the  Chinese,   but  they  have  a 


t  "ft  I    0  Gvl/rl  H 


FIG.  8. — Sacred  tree  with  worshippers,  from  eastern  gateway  of 
Buddhist  Tope  at  Sanchi. 

(Fergusson's  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship  (1868),  Plate  xxv.) 

tradition  of  a  Tree  of  Life,  and  of  a  drink  of  im- 
mortality made  from  various  sacred  plants.  They 
also  make  use  of  the  divining-rod,  which  is  an  offshoot 
of  tree-worship,  and  certain  Taoist  medals,  like  the 
talismans  worn  in  Java,  bear  the  familiar  symbol  of 
the  sacred  tree.1  In  Japan  certain  old  trees  growing 
near  Shinto  temples  are  regarded  as  sacred,  and 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  130. 


1 6  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

bound  with  a  fillet  of  straw  rope,  "as  if  they  were 
tenanted  by  a  divine  spirit." *  Japanese  mythology 
tells  of  holy  sakaki  trees  growing  on  the  Mountain  of 
Heaven,  and  of  a  herb  of  immortality  to  be  gathered 
on  the  Island  of  Eternal  Youth. 

Amongst  the  semi-civilised  races  which  border 
upon  these  ancient  states  the  tree  is  still  almost 
universally  regarded  as  the  dwelling-place  of  a  spirit, 
and  as  such  is  protected,  venerated,  and  often  pre- 
sented with  offerings.  In  Sumatra  and  Borneo  certain 
old  trees  are  held  to  be  sacred,  and  the  Dyaks  would 
regard  their  destruction  as  an  impious  act.  The 
Mintira  of  the  Malay  Peninsula  believe  that  trees  are 
inhabited  by  terrible  spirits  capable  of  inflicting 
diseases.  The  Talein  of  Burmah  never  cut  down  a 
tree  without  a  prayer  to  the  indwelling  spirit.  The 
Siamese  have  such  veneration  for  the  takhien-tree  that 
they  offer  it  cakes  and  rice  before  felling  it ;  so  strong, 
indeed,  is  their  dread  of  destroying  trees  -of  any  kind, 
and  thereby  offending  the  gods  inhabiting  them,  that 
all  necessary  tree- felling  is  relegated  to  the  lowest 
criminals.  Even  at  the  present  day  they  frequently 
make  offerings  to  the  tree-dwelling  spirits,  and  hang 
gifts  on  any  tree  whose  deity  they  desire  to  propitiate.2 

In  the  Western  Hemisphere,  the  fact  that  the 
drawing  of  a  tree  with  two  opposed  personages  or 
supporters,  similar  in  design  to  the  sacred  tree  of  the 
Chaldaeans,  has  been  found  in  an  ancient  Mexican 
MS.,  has  been  put" forward  as  an  additional  argument 
in  favour  of  the  pre-Columbian  colonisation  of  that 
continent  and  its  early  contact  with  the  Eastern  world.3 

1  Murray's     Handbook    for    Japan       (London,     1871),     vol.    ii.     pp.     196, 
(London,  1884),  p.  66.  198. 

2  E.    B.    Tylor,    Primitive    Culture  3  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  131. 


TREE  -  WORSHIP— DIS  TRIE  UTION  AND  ORIGIN        1 7 


Speaking  generally,  however,  the  worship  of  the  tree 
appears  to  have  flourished  less  widely  in  the  New 
World  than  the  Old,  though  traces  of  it  have  been 
found  all  over  the  continent.1  A  large  ash-tree  is 
regarded  with  great  veneration  by  the  Indians  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  in  Mexico  there  was  a  cypress,  the 
spreading  branches  of  which  were  loaded  by  the 

natives  with  votive  offer- 

ings,  locks  of  hair,  teeth, 
and  morsels  of  ribbon  ;  it 
was  many  centuries  old, 
and  had  probably  had 
mysterious  influence  as- 
cribed to  it,  and  been  deco- 
rated with  offerings  long 
before  the  discovery  of 

America.2        By    that    date,      FIG.  9.-From  a  Mexican  manuscript. 
i  i     '         •»  /r  (Goblet  d'Alviella.) 

however,     the     Mexicans 

had  apparently  advanced  beyond  the  earliest  stage 
of  religious  development,  and  expanded  the  idea  of 
individual  tree-spirits  into  the  more  general  conception 
of  a  god  of  vegetation.  It  was  in  the  honour  of  such 
a  god  that  their  May- Day  celebrations  were  held  and 
their  human  sacrifices  offered.  In  Nicaragua  cereals 
were  worshipped  as  well  as  trees.  In  more  primitive 
Patagonia  the  cruder  form  of  worship  persists,  a 
certain  tree  standing  upon  a  hill  being  still  resorted 
to  by  numerous  worshippers,  each  of  whom  brings  his 
offering. 

To  return  nearer  home,  the  worship  of  the  tree 
has  prevailed  at  one  time  or  another  in  every  country 
of  Europe.  It  played  a  vital  part  in  the  religion  of 


1  Mliller,     Amerikanische 
gionen  (Basel,  1855),  P-  494- 


Urreli-  2  E.   B.   Tylor,  Anahuac  (London, 

1861),  pp.  215,  265. 


1 8  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

Greece  and  Rome,  and  classical  literature  is  full  of 
traditions  and  ideas  which  can  have  been  derived  from 
no  other  source.  The  subject  has  been  exhaustively 
treated  by  Botticher  in  his  Baumkultus  der  Hellenen? 
Mr.  Farnell,  in  his  recently  published  work,  says 
that  in  the  earliest  period  of  Greek  religion  of  which 
we  have  any  record,  the  tree  was  worshipped  as  the 
shrine  of  the  divinity  that  housed  within  it ;  hence  the 
epithet  eVSez/fy>o?,  applied  to  Zeus,  and  the  legend  of 
Helene  Dendritis.2  Discoveries  made  in  Crete  and 
the  Peloponnese  within  the  present  year  (1896)  seem 
to  show  that  the  worship  of  deities  in  aniconic  shape 
as  stone  pillars  or  as  trees  played  a  great  part  in  the 
religion  of  the  Mycenaean  period  about  1500  B.C.3  The 
persistent  belief  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  peasantry 
in  the  existence  and  power  of  the  various  woodland 
spirits  is  also  vitally  connected  with  the  primitive 
idea  of  the  tree-soul. 

In  the  centre  of  Europe,  covered  as-  it  once  was 
with  dense  forest,  the  veneration  of  the  tree  tinctured 
'  all  the  religious  usages  of  the  primitive  inhabitants. 
In  ancient  Germany,  the  universal  ceremonial  religion 
of  the  people  had  its  abode  in  the  "grove"  and  the 
earliest  efforts  of  the  Christian  missionaries  were 
directed  towards  the  destruction  of  these  venerated 
woods,  or  their  consecration  by  the  erection  within 
them  of  a  Christian  edifice.4  But  long  after  their 
nominal  conversion  the  Germans  continued  to  people 
every  wood  with  spirits,  and  the  legends  and  folk-lore 
of  their  modern  descendants  are  still  rich  in  memories 

1  Carl  Botticher,   Der  Baumkultus  3  Arthur   Evans,    in  the    anthropo- 
der  Hellenen  (Berlin,  1856).                          logical  section  of  the  British  Associa- 

2  L.  R.   Farnell,    The  Cults  of '  the       tion,  Times,  23rd  Sept.  1896. 

Greek  States  (Oxford,  1896),  vol.  i.  p.  4  Jacob  Grimm,  Deutsche  Mythologie 

14.  (Gottingen,  1844),  v°l-  *•  P-  60. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN         19 

of  this  time  -  honoured  superstition.  Some  of  these 
wood-inhabiting  spirits  were  favourable  to  man,  ready 
to  befriend  and  help  him  in  difficulty  ;  others  were 
malicious  and  vindictive.  The  whole  subject  has  been 
studied  in  Germany  with  characteristic  thoroughness, 
the  standard  work  being  Mannhardt's  well-known  and 
fascinating  Wald-  und  Feldkulte^ 

In  Poland  trees  appear  to  have  been  worshipped 
as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century,  and  in  parts  of  Russia 
the  power  of  the  tree-spirit  over  the  herds  was  so 
firmly  held,  that  it  was  long  customary  to  propitiate 
it  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  cow.  The  Permians,  a  tribe 
related  to  the  Finns,  worshipped  trees,  among  other 
things,  until  their  conversion  to  Christianity  about  1380 
A.D.2  In  parts  of  Esthonia  the  peasants  even  within 
the  present  century  regarded  certain  trees  as  sacred, 
carefully  protected  them,  hung  them  with  wreaths, 
and  once  a  year  poured  fresh  bullock's  blood  about 
their  roots,  in  order  that  the  cattle  might  thrive.3  In 
the  remoter  parts  of  the  Czar's  domain  the  belief  in 
tree  -  demons  still  persists.  They  are  held  to  be 
enormous  creatures,  who  can  change  their  stature  at 
will,  and  whose  voice  is  heard  in  the  clash  of  the  storm 
as  they  spring  from  tree  to  tree.  In  Finland  the  oak 
is  still  called  "God's  tree,"  and  to  this  day  the  birch 
and  the  mountain-ash  are  held  sacred  by  the  peasants, 
and  planted  beside  their  cottages  with  every  sign  of 
reverence. 

In  France  at  Massilia  (now  Marseilles)  human 
sacrifices  were,  in  primitive  times,  offered  to  trees.4 

1  Der   Baumkultus    der    Germanen  lesungen  (St.  Petersburg,  1857),  p.  141. 
und     Hirer     Nachbarstdmme    (Berlin,  3  Boeder,  Der Ehsten  aberglatibische 
1875);    Antike   Wald-  itnd  Feldkulte  Geb^tche,  etc.  (St.  Petersburg,  1854), 
(Berlin,  1877).      These  volumes  will  be  quotedjn  Fergusson's  Tree  atid  Serpent 
referred  to  as  Mannhardt  I.  and  II.  Worship. 

2  A.    Castren,    Ethnologische    Vor-  4  Lucan,  Pharsalia,  iii.  405. 


20  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

In  the  fourth  century  of  our  era  there  was  a  famous 
pear-tree  at  Auxerre  which  was  hung  with  trophies  of 
the  chase  and  paid  all  the  veneration  due  to  a  god.1 
In  the  life  of  St.  Amandus  mention  is  made  of  sacred 
groves  and  trees  worshipped  near  Beauvais,  and 
various  Church  councils  in  the  early  middle  ages 
denounced  those  who  venerated  trees,  one  held  at 
Nantes  in  895  A.D.  expressly  enjoining  the  destruction 
of  trees  which  were  consecrated  to  demons.  Traces 
of  the  ancient  worship  still  survive  here  as  elsewhere 
in  popular  custom  ;  in  the  south  of  France  they  have 
a  graceful  observance,  in  which  the  spirit  of  vegetation 
is  personified  by  a  youth  clad  in  green,  who  feigning 
sleep  is  awakened  by  a  maiden's  kiss. 

In  our  own  islands,  as  every  one  knows,  the  oak- 
tree  played  a  salient  part  in  the  old  Druidical  worship, 
and  Pliny 2  even  derives  the  name  Druid  from  8/01)9,  an 
oark,  as  some  still  connect  it  with  darach,  the  Celtic 
word  for  that  tree.  The  important  rites  with  which 
the  mistletoe  was  severed  from  the  parent  tree  and 
dedicated  at  the  altar  furnish  evidence  of  the  venera- 
tion paid  to  the  spirit  of  the  tree,  who,  according  to  the 
teaching  of  the  Druids,  retreated  into  the  parasite- 
bough  when  the  oak  leaves  withered.  The  Teutons 
no  doubt  brought  with  them  to  Britain  the  religion  of 
the  sacred  grove,  and  we  find  King  Edgar  condemn- 
ing the  idle  rites  in  connection  with  the  alder  and 
other  trees,  and  Canute  fifty  years  later  forbidding 
the  worship  entirely.3  The  ceremonies  once  connected 
with  the  worship  of  the  tree  survived  in  the  form 
of  a  picturesque  symbolism  long  after  their  origin  had 
been  forgotten.  In  1515,  at  a  Twelfth-Night  pageant 

1  Jacob  Grimm,  op.   cit.   vol.   i.   p.  2  Pliny,  Nat.  Hist.  lib.  xvi.  95. 

67.  3  Mannhardt  I.  p.  70. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN        21 

held  at  his  palace  of  Greenwich  by  order  of  Henry 
VIII.,  tree-spirits  represented  by  "VIII  wylde-men,  all 
apparayled  in  grene  mosse  sodainly  came  oute  of  a 
place  lyke  a  wood  "  and  engaged  in  battle  with  the 
royal  knights.1  It  was  also  a  custom  of  this  king  in 
the  early  years  of  his  reign  to  resort  to  the  woods  with 
a  richly-apparelled  retinue  in  order  "to  fetche  May  or 
grene  bows," — the  spirit  of  vegetation,  whose  renewed 
vigour  was  symbolised,  unconsciously  no  doubt,  in  the 
green  boughs  with  which  the  courtiers  decked  their 
caps.2  May-day  ceremonies  to  celebrate  the  new  life 
in  the  forest  can  be  traced  in  England  as  far  back  as 
the  thirteenth  century,  and  the  importance  still  attached 
to  them  by  the  people  as  late  as  the  seventeenth 
century  is  indicated  by  the  rancour  with  which  the 
Puritans  attacked  the  Maypole,  "a  heathenish  vanity 
greatly  abused  to  superstition  and  wickedness."  These 
and  other  survivals  will  be  more  fully  treated  in  a 
later  chapter,  and  are  only  mentioned  here  as  showing 
the  ancient  prevalence  of  a  belief  in  tree-spirits,  which 
indeed  is  alone  competent  to  account  for  such  customs. 
In  fine,  no  one  who  has  not  studied  the  subject 
can  have  any  idea  of  the  sanctity  associated  with  the 
tree  amongst  pre-Christian  nations.  The  general 
conclusion  which  Botticher  gives  as  the  result  of  his 
elaborate  research,  is  that  the  worship  of  the  tree  was 
not  only  the  earliest  form  of  divine  ritual,  but  was 
the  last  to  disappear  before  the  spread  of  Christianity ; 
it  existed  long  before  the  erection  of  temples  and 
statues  to  the  gods,  flourished  side  by  side  with  them, 
and  persisted  long  after  they  had  disappeared.3  Mr. 
Tylor,  with  greater  caution,  concludes  that  direct  and 

1    Hall's  Chronicle  (London,  1809),  2  Ibid.  pp.  515,  520. 

p.  580.  3  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  534. 


22  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

absolute  tree -worship  may  lie  very  wide  and  deep 
in  the  early  history  of  religion,  but  that  apart  from 
this  "  there  is  a  wide  range  of  animistic  conceptions 
connected  with  tree  and  forest  worship.  The  tree 
may  be  the  spirit's  perch,  or  shelter,  or  favourite 
haunt ;  or  may  serve  as  a  scaffold  or  altar,  where 
offerings  can  be  set  out  for  some  spiritual  being  ;  or 
its  shelter  may  be  a  place  of  worship  set  apart  by 
nature,  of  some  tribes  the  only  temple,  of  many  tribes, 
perhaps,  the  earliest ;  or  lastly,  it  may  be  merely  a 
sacred  object  patronised  by,  or  associated  with,  or 
symbolising  some  divinity."1  These  varied  conceptions, 
Mr.  Tylor  thinks,  conform,  in  spite  of  their  confusion, 
to  the  animistic  theology  in  which  they  all  have  their 
essential  principles. 

To.  discuss  the  origin  of  tree -worship  would 
involve  the  consideration  of  the  whole  question 
of  primitive  culture,  the  theory  of  animism,  and  the 
subject  of  ancestor  worship,  together  with  a  digression 
on  the  very  obscure  problem  of  totemism.  The  last 
word  has  not  yet  been  said  on  these  questions,  and 
the  time  has  certainly  not  yet  come  to  say  it.  As  will 
be  shown  in  the  next  two  chapters,  the  general  con- 
ception of  the  tree-spirit  includes  at  least  two  different 
series  of  ideas,  that  on  the  one  hand  of  the  tree-god, 
whose  worship  became  organised  into  a  definite 
religion,  and  on  the'  other  hand  that  of  the  tree- 
demons  or  tree  -  spirits,  whose  propitiation  was  de- 
graded into  or  never  rose  above  the  level  of  sorcery 
and  incantation.  To  define  the  relation  between  these 
two  conceptions  is  extremely  difficult,  and  it  has  been 
approached  by  different  writers  along  two  different 
lines  of  thought.  Either  the  gods  were  developed 

1  E.  B.  Tylor,  Primitive  Cttlture,  vol.  ii.  p.  202. 


i  TREE-WORSHIP— DISTRIBUTION  AND  ORIGIN        23 

from  the  spiritual  forces  assumed  by  primitive  man  to 
be  inherent  in  nature,  and  gradually  differentiated 
from  the  less  friendly  powers  embodied  in  the  various 
demons,  until  they  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  kins- 
men and  parents  of  their  worshippers  ;  or  they  were 
ancestral  spirits,  at  once  feared  and  trusted  from  their 
very  origin  by  their  kinsmen,  whilst  all  the  class  of 
minor  spirits  and  demons  were  but  degenerate  gods 
or  the  ancestral  spirits  of  enemies.  The  former  view 
is  put  forward  by  Professor  Robertson  Smith,  in  a 
chapter  that  deserves  most  careful  study,  but  he  admits 
that  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  the  friendly 
powers  of  nature  that  haunted  a  district  in  which  men 
lived  and  prospered,  and  were  regarded  as  embodied 
in  holy  trees  and  springs,  became  identified  with  the 
tribal  god  of  a  community  and  the  parent  of  a  race.1 
There  is  no  such  difficulty  in  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer's 
theory  that  all  religion  arose  from  ancestor  worship, 
or  in  Mr.  Grant  Allen's  supplementary  contention 
that  trees  and  stones  came  to  be  regarded  as  sacred 
and  to  be  honoured  with  sacrifices  because  they  were 
originally  associated  with  the  ancestral  grave,  and 
were  hence  assumetl  to  have  become  the  haunts  or 
embodiments  of  the  ancestral  spirit.2  This  latter  view, 
however,  does  not  seem  to  take  sufficient  account  of 
the  thousand  spirits  who,  in  the  belief  of  primitive 
men,  thronged  the  woods,  the  mountains,  and  the 
springs,  and  appeared  in  horrible  animal  or  semi-human 
form.  Probably  the  truth  lies  between  the  two  theories, 
and  the  primitive  worship  of  the  tree  had  more  than 
one  root. 

1  Op.  dt.  Lecture  III. 
2  The  Attis  of  Catullus  (London,  1892),  Excursus  II. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    GOD    AND    THE    TREE 

WHEN  we  examine  more  closely  the  spiritual  beings 
who  have  been  thought  to  haunt  or  inhabit  vegetation, 
we  find  that  they  fall  more  or  less  distinctly  into  two 
classes — into  tree-gods  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other  into  the  various  tree  -  demons,  wood  -  spirits, 
dryads,  elves,  jinns,  and  fabulous  monsters  common 
to  the  mythology  of  all  countries.  There  is,  perhaps, 
no  absolutely  definite  line  of  demarcation  between 
the  two  classes,  for  primitive  thought  does  not  deal 
in  sharp  definitions.  But  the  division,  besides  being 
convenient  for  our  present  purpose,  is  a  vital  one. 
For  a  god  is  an  individual  spirit  who  enters  into 
stated  relations  with  man,  is  mostly  if  not  invariably 
regarded  as  akin  to  his  worshippers,  and  is  presum- 
ably their  friend,  ally,  and  protector.  Whereas  the 
demon  is  an  independent  and,  as  a  rule,  not  indi- 
vidualised spirit,  without  human  kinship,  and  for  the 
most  part  unfriendly  to  man.  The  god  is  to  be 
revered,  approached  and  called  upon  by  name  ;  the 
demon,  as  a  rule,  to  be  dreaded  and  shunned.  The 
present  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  the  belief  in  the 
tree-inhabiting  god. 


CHAP,  ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  25 

The  conception  of  an  ubiquitous,  unconditioned 
spirit  is  entirely  foreign  to  primitive  thought.  All 
the  gods  of  antiquity  were  subject  to  physical  limita- 
tions. Those  even  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  by 
no  means  independent  of  a  material  environment. 
There  was  always  some  holy  place  or  sanctuary,  some 
grove,  tree,  stone,  or  fountain,  or  later  on  some  temple 
or  image,  wherein  the  god  was  assumed  to  dwell,  and 
through  which  he  had  to  be  approached.  To  Moses 
Jehovah  is  "  He  that  dwelt  in  the  bush,"1  and  cen- 
turies later  Cyrus,  while  admitting  that  the  Lord  of 
Israel  had  made  him  king  of  the  whole  world,  yet 
speaks  of  Him  as  "the  Lord  that  dwelleth  in  Jeru- 
salem."2 Very  frequently,  especially  in  early  times, 
this  home  or  haunt  of  the  god  was  a  tree ;  his  cere- 
monial worship  was  conducted  beneath  its  shadow, 
and  the  offerings  of  his  worshippers  were  hung  upon 
its  branches,  or  placed  at  its  foot,  or  upon  a  table  by 
its  side,  and  assumed  thereby  to  have  reached  the 
god.  Thus  the  sacred  sycamores  of  Egypt  were 
believed  to  be  actually  inhabited  by  Hathor,  Nuit, 
iSelkit,  Nit,  or  some  other  deity,  and  were  worshipped 
and  presented  with  offerings  as  such.  The  vignettes 
in  the  Book  of  the  Dead  demonstrate  this  belief  un- 
mistakably. They  frequently  depict  the  soul  on  its 
journey  to  the  next  world  coming  to  one  of  these 
miraculous  sycamores  on  the  edge  of  the  terrible 
desert  before  it,  and  receiving  from  the  goddess  of 
the  tree  a  supply  of  bread,  fruit,  or  water,  the  accept- 
ance of  which  made  it  the  guest  of  the  deity  and  pre- 
vented it  from  retracing  its  steps  without  her  express 
permission.  "  O,  sycamore  of  the  Goddess  Nuit," 
begins  one  of  the  chapters  in  the  Book  of  the  Dead, 

1  Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  16.  2  I  Esdras  ii.  5. 


26 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


"  let  there  be  given  to  me  the  water  which  is  in 
thee."  As  a  rule  in  the  vignettes  the  bust  of  the 
goddess  is  represented  as  appearing  from  amidst  the 
sheltering  foliage,  but  sometimes  only  her  arm  is  seen 
emerging  from  the  leaves  with  a  libation  -  bowl  in 
the  hand.  The  conception  is  illustrated  still  more 
clearly  on  an  ancient  sarcophagus  in  the  Marseilles 


FIG.  10. — The  goddess  Nuit  in  her  sacred  sycamore  bestowing  the 
bread  and  water  of  the  next  world. 

(Maspero,  Dawn  of  Civilisation.} 

Museum,  where  the  trunk  from  which  the  branches 
spread  is  represented  as  the  actual  body  of  the 
deity.1 

As  man's  conception  of  the  deity  became  more  de- 
finitely anthropomorphic  on  the  one  hand  and  less  local 
on  the  other,  this  primitive  representation  of  the  god 
in  the  tree  underwent  a  change  in  two  corresponding 
directions.  In  the  one  case  an  attempt  was  made  to 

1  Maspero,  op.  cit.  p.  84,  note  i. 


THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE 


27 


express  more  clearly  the  manlike  form  of  the  god  ; 
the  tree  was  dressed  or  carved  in  human  semblance, 
or  a  mask  or  statue  of  the  god  was  hung  upon  or 
placed  beside  it.  In  the  other  case,  as  the  god 
widened  his  territory  or  absorbed  other  local  gods  he 


FIG.  ii. — Sacred  tree  of  Dionysus,  with  a  statue  of  the  god  and  offerings. 
(Botticher,  Fig.  24.) 

became  associated  with  all  trees  of  a  certain  class,  and 
was  assumed  to  dwell  not  in  a  particular  tree,  but  in 
a  particular  kind  of  tree,  which  thenceforward  became 
sacred  to  and  symbolical  of  him.  This  latter  idea 
received  special  development  in  the  religions  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  But  in  the  early  history  of  both  those 


28 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


countries  cases  occur  in  which  a  god  was  worshipped 
in  an  individual  tree.  At  Dodona,  which  was  per- 
haps the  most  ancient  of  all  Greek  sanctuaries,  Zeus 
was  approached  as  immanent  in  his  sacred  oak,  and 
legendary  afterthought  explained  the  primitive  ritual 
by  relating  that  the  first  oak  sprang  from  the  blood  of 
a  Titan  slain  while  invading  the  abode  of  the  god, 
who  thereupon  chose  it  as  his  own  peculiar  tree. 

Again,  in  ancient  Rome, 
according  to  Livy, 
Jupiter  was  originally 
worshipped  in  the  form 
of  a  lofty  oak-tree  which 
grew  upon  the  Capitol. 
The  same  was  probably 
true  of  other  gods  at 
their  first  appearance. 
Amongst  the  Greeks, 
indeed,  the  tree  was  the 
earliest  symbol 


FIG.   12.—  Sacred  pine  of  Silvanus,  with  a  of  the  god,    and    as  Such 


bust  of  the  god   and  votive  gifts  repre-   js  frequently  represented 
sented  by  a  bale  of  merchandise  and  a  -1 

Mercury's  staff.  on  ancient  vases,  marble 

(Botticher,  Fig  ,8.)  tablets,  silver  vessels, 

and  wall-paintings.  Indeed,  the  solitary  tree  standing 
in  Attic  fields  and  worshipped  as  the  sacred  habita- 
tion of  a  god  was  in  all  probability  the  earliest  Greek 
temple,  the  forerunner  of  those  marvellous  edifices 
which  have  aroused  the  admiration  of  every  subsequent 
age;  whilst  the  elaborate  worship  of  which  those 
temples  became  the  home  was  presumably  based  upon 
a  ceremonial  originally  connected  with  the  worship 
of  the  tree. 

According  to  Mr.   Farnell,  the  latest  writer  on  the 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  29 

subject,  the  chief  gods  of  the  Greeks  were  in  their 
origin  deities  of  vegetation,  the  special  attributes 
which  we  associate  with  them  being  subsequent  ac- 
cretions. The  pre- Hellenic  Cronos  gave  his  name  to 
an  Attic  harvest-festival  held  in  July,  and  his  ancient 
emblem  was  the  sickle.1  Zeus,  besides  being  the  oak- 
god  of  Dodona,  was  worshipped  in  Attica  as  a  god 
of  agriculture-  and  honoured  with  cereal  offerings.2 
Artemis  was  not  primarily  a  goddess  of  chastity,  nor  a 
moon -goddess,  nor  the  twin-sister  of  Apollo,  but  an-  j 
independent  divinity,  closely  related  to  the  wood- 
nymphs,  and  connected  with  water  and  with  wild 
vegetation  and  forest  beasts.  She  was  worshipped  in 
Arcadia  as  the  goddess  of  the  nut-tree  and  the  cedar, 
and  in  Laconia  as  the  goddess  of  the  laurel  and  the 
myrtle.  Her  idol  at  Sparta  was  said  to  have  been 
found  in  a  willow  brake,  bound  round  with  withies. 
At  Teuthea  in  Achaea  she  was  worshipped  as  the 
goddess  of  the  woodland  pasture,  and  at  Cnidus  as 
the  nurturer  of  the  hyacinth.3  In  the  legend  of  the 
colonisation  of  Boiae  she  was  represented  as  embodied 
in  a  hare  which  suddenly  disappeared  in  a  myrtle-tree.4 
But  her  character  as  a  tree -goddess  comes  out  still 
more  clearly  in  the  cult  of  the  "hanging  Artemis"  at 
Kaphyae  in  Arcadia,5  which  no  doubt  grew  out  of  the 
primitive  custom  of  suspending  a  mask  or  image  of  the 
vegetation  spirit  to  the  sacred  tree. 

The  association  of  Hera  with  tree-worship  is  less 
pronounced.  She  was  said  to  have  been  born  under 
a  willow-tree  at  Samos,  and  her  worship  in  that  island 
was  characterised  by  a  yearly  ceremony  in  which  her 
priestess  secreted  her  idol  in  a  willow  brake,  where  it 

1  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  chap.  iii.  4  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  432. 

2  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  66.  5  Pausanias,  8,  23,  6. 

3  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  429. 


30  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

was  subsequently  rediscovered  and  honoured  with  an 
oblation  of  cakes.1  In  Argos  she  was  worshipped  as 
the  deity  who  gave  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  as  such 
was  represented  with  a  pomegranate  in  her  hand.  It 
is  also  worthy  of  note  that  the  familiar  symbol  of  a 
conventionalised  tree  between  two  griffins  appears  on' 
the  Stephanos  or  coronet  of  the  goddess  on  coins  of 
Croton  of  the  fourth  century,  and  of  certain  South 
Italian  cities,  as  well  as  on  a  colossal  bust  now  at 
Venice,  which,  like  the  head  on  the  coins,  was  pre- 
sumably copied  from  the  temple.-image  at  Croton.2 

Aphrodite  was  not  a  primitive  Greek  deity,  but 
her  connection  with  vegetative  life  is  abundantly  clear. 
She  was,  in  fact,  but  a  Hellenised  variant  of  the  great 
Oriental  goddess,  worshipped  in  different  parts  as 
I  star,  Astarte,  Cybele,  etc.,  who  was  essentially  a 
divinity  of  vegetation.3 

This  primitive  connection  of  the  gods  of  Greece 
with  vegetative  life  was  lost  sight  of  in  their  later 
developments.  Even  at  the  date  of  the  Homeric 
poems  the  more  advanced  of  the  Greeks  had  evi- 
dently arrived  at  "  a  highly  developed  structure  of 
religious  thought,  showing  us  clear-cut  personal  divini- 
ties with  ethical  and  spiritual  attributes."4  But  the 
older  and  cruder  ideas  of  the  nature  of  the  gods  left 
a  persistent  trace  in  the  ritual  with  which  they  were 
worshipped,  as  well  as  in  the  designs  of  the  artists  who 
reflected  the  popular  traditions.  Thus  the  ancient 
custom  of  burning  incense  before  the  tree,  decking  it 
with  consecrated  fillets,  and  honouring  it  with  burnt 
offerings,  survived  long  after  the  belief  of  which  it 
was  the  natural  development  had  decayed.  A  seulp- 

1  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  185.  3  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  644. 

2  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  212.  4  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  9. 


THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE 


ture  preserved  in  the  Berlin  Museum  represents  the 
holy  pine-tree  of  Pan  adorned  with  wreaths  and  fillets. 
An  image  of  Pan  is  near,  and  offerings  are  being 
brought  to  an  altar  placed  beneath  it.  Again,  Theo- 
critus describes  how  at  the  consecration  of  Helen's 
plane-tree  at  Sparta,  the  choir  of  Lacedaemonian 
maidens  hung  consecrated  wreaths  of  lotus  flowers 
upon  the  tree,  anointed  it  with  costly  spikenard,  and 
attached  to  it  the  dedicatory 
placard  :  "  Honour  me,  all  ye 
that  pass  by,  for  I  am  Helen's 
tree."1 

The  practice  of  giving  the 
tree  a  human  semblance,  by 
clothing  it  in  garments  or 
carving  its  stump  in  human 
form,  was  the  natural  result 
of  this  worship  amongst  an 
artistic  race,  groping  its  way 
towards  a  concrete  expression 
of  its  ideas.  It  represented 
the  crude  strivings  of  a  people 
who,  in  their  attempts  to 
create  gods  in  their  own 
image,  eventually  produced 
an  unsurpassable  ideal  of  human  grace  and  beauty. 
From  the  rudely  carved  tree-stump  arose  in  due  time 
the  Hermes  of  Praxiteles.  Botticher  reproduces 
several  ancient  designs  in  which  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
is  dressed  as  Dionysus.  In  one  of  these  a  mask  is 
fastened  at  the  top  of  the  trunk  in  such  a  way  that 
the  branches  appear  to  grow  from  the  head  of  the 
god,  and  the  trunk  itself  is  clothed  with  a  long 

1  Theocritus,  Idyll,  xviii.  48. 


FIG.  13.  —  Fruit-tree  dressed  as 
Dionysus. 

(Botticher,  Fig.  44.) 


32  THE  SACRED   TREE  CHAP. 

garment ;  a  table,  or  altar,  loaded  with  gifts,  stands 
beside  it.'1 

In  other  cases,  probably  where  the  worshipped  tree 
had  died,  its  trunk  or  branches  were  rudely  carved  into 
an  image  of  the  god,  and  either  left  in  situ,  or  hewn 
down  and  placed  near  the  temple  or,  later,  in  the  very 
temple  itself.  Both  Pausanias  and  Pliny  state  that  the 
oldest  images  of  the  gods  were  made  of  wood,  and 
several  Latin  authors  refer  to  the  custom  of  thus 
carving  the  branches  of  auspicious  trees  (felicium 
arborum)  as  prevalent  in  primitive  times  amongst 
the  Greeks.'2  The  dyaX^a  or  emblem  of  Aphrodite, 
dedicated  by  Pelops,  was  wrought  out  of  a  fresh 
verdant  myrtle -tree.  At  Samos  a  board  was  the 
emblem  of  Hera  ;  two  wooden  stocks  joined  together 
by  a  cross-piece  was  the  sign  of  the  twin-brethren  at 
Sparta,  and  a  wooden  column  encircled  with  ivy  was 
consecrated  to  Dionysus  at  Thebes.8 

It  may  be  fairly  assumed  that  in  cases  such  as 
these  the  worshippers  believed  that  the  dead  piece  of 
wood  retained  some  at  least  of  the  power  originally 
attributed  to  the  spirit  dwelling  in  the  living  tree. 
Their  idolatry  was  but  a  childish  deduction  from  an 
ancient  and  deeply-rooted  theology.  The  same  may 
be  said  for  the  wood-cutter,  derided  in  the  Apocrypha, 
who,  "  taking  a  crooked  piece  of  wood  and  full  of 
knots,  carveth  it  with  the  diligence  of  his  idleness,  and 
shapeth  it  by  the  skill  of  his  indolence  ;  then  he  giveth 
it  the  semblance  of  the  image  of  a  man,  smearing  it 
with  vermilion  and  with  paint  colouring  it  red  ;  and 
having  made  for  it  a  chamber  worthy  of  it,  he  setteth 
it  in  a  wall,  making  it  fast  with  iron."4  Side  by  side 

1  Botticher,  op.  cit.  pp.  103,  229.  3  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  14. 

'2  Ibid.  pp.  217,  220.  4  Wisdom  xiii.  II  (Revised  Version). 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  33 

with  this  foolish  wood-cutter,  who  "  for  life  beseecheth 
that  which  is  dead,"  may  be  placed  the  Sicilian  peasant 
whom  Theocritus  represents  as  offering  sacrifice  to  a 
carved  Pan.  "When  thou  hast  turned  yonder  lane, 
goatherd,  where  the  oak-trees  are,  thou  wilt  find  an 
image  of  fig-tree  wood  newly  carven  ;  three  legged  it 
is,  the  bark  still  covers  it,  and  it  is  earless  withal.  A 
right  holy  precinct  runs  round  it,  and  a  ceaseless 
stream  that  falleth  from  the  rocks  on  every  side  is 
green  with  laurels  and  myrtles  and  fragrant  cypress. 
And  all  around  the  place  that  child  of  the  grape,  the 
vine,  doth  flourish  with  its  tendrils,  and  the  merles  in 
spring  with  their  sweet  songs  pour  forth  their  wood- 
notes  wild,  and  the  brown  nightingales  reply  with  their 
complaints,  pouring  from  their  bills  their  honey  sweet 
song."1 

This  crude  worship  of  the  god  in  the  anthropo- 
morphised  tree  lingered  on  amongst  the  peasantry  side 
by  side  with  the  splendid  temple  ritual,  even  into  days 
when  the  revelation  of  a  Deity  who  filled  all  time  and 
space,  and  was  worshipped  in  temples  not  made  with 
hands,  was  rapidly  undermining  the  pagan  worship  of 
the  cities.  Maximus  Tyrius,  who  lived  in  the  second 
century  A.D.,  and  counted  among  his  most  diligent 
pupils  the  great  Marcus  Aurelius,  relates  how  even  in 
his  day  at  the  festival  of  Dionysus  every  peasant 
selected  the  most  beautiful  tree  in  his  garden  to 
convert  it  into  an  image  of  the  god  and  to  worship  it.2 
And  Apuleius,  another  writer  of  the  same  period,  bears 
similar  testimony.  "  It  is  the  custom,"  he  says,  "of 
pious  travellers,  when  their  way  passes  a  grove  or 
holy  place,  that  they  offer  up  a  prayer  for  the  ful- 
filment of  their  wishes,  offer  gifts  and  remain  there  a 

1  Theocritus,  Epigram.  IV.  2  Maximus  Tyrius,  viii.  I. 

D 


34 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


time;  so  I,  when  I  set  foot  in  that  most  sacred  city, 
although  in  haste,  must  crave  for  a  pardon,  offer  a 
prayer  and  moderate  my  haste.  For  never  was 
traveller  more  justified  in  making  a  religious  pause, 
when  he  perchance  shall  have  come  upon  a  flower- 
wreathed  altar,  a  grotto  covered  with  boughs,  an  oak 
decorated  with  many  horns,  or  a  beech-tree  with  skins 


FIGS.  14,  15. — Forms  of  the  Tat  or  Didu,  the  emblem  of  Osiris. 

(Maspero,  op.  cit.) 

hung  to  it,  a  little  sacred  hill  fenced  around,  or  a  tree 
trunk  hewn  as  an  image  (truncus  dolamine  effigatus)"* 
This  custom  of  carving  a  tree  into  the  semblance  of 
a  god,  and  subsequently  worshipping  it  as  his  sanctuary 
or  symbol,  was  current  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 
The  chief  idol  form  of  Osiris,  the  Didu  or  Tat,  is 
believed  by  Maspero  to  have  originated  as  a  simple 
tree-trunk  disbranched  and  planted  in  the  ground.'2 
Usually  it  is  represented  with  a  grotesque  face,  beneath 

1  Apuleius,  Florid,  i.  i. 
2  Maspero,  op.  cit.  p.  84,  note  3,  and  p.  130. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND   THE  TREE  35 

four  superimposed  capitals,  with  a  necklace  round  its 
neck,  a  long  robe  hiding  the  base  of  the  column  in  its 
folds,  and  the  whole  surmounted  by  the  familiar 
Osirian  emblems. 

Again,  it  is  said  to  have  been  a  practice  amongst 
the  Druids,  when  an  oak  died  to  strip  off  its  bark  and 
shape  it  into  a  pillar,  pyramid,  or  cross,  and  continue  to 
worship  it  as  an  emblem  of  the  god.1  The  cross 
especially  was  a  favourite  form,  and  any  oak  with  two 
principal  branches  forming  a  cross  with  the  main  stem 
was  consecrated  by  a  sacred  inscription,  and  from  that 
time  forward  regarded  with  particular  reverence. 

The  same  custom  prevailed  in  India.  In  thexx 
seventeenth  century  there  existed  near  Surat  a  sacred 
banian-tree,  supposed  to  be  3000  years  old,  which  the 
Hindus  would  never  cut  or  touch  with  steel  for  fear 
of  offending  the  god  concealed  in  its  foliage.  They 
made  pilgrimages  to  it  and  honoured  it  with  religious 
ceremonies.  On  its  trunk  at  a  little  distance  from  the 
ground  a  head  had  been  roughly  carved,  painted  in 
gay  colours,  and  furnished  with  gold  and  silver  eyes. 
This  simulacrum  was  constantly  adorned  with  fresh 
foliage  and  flowers,  the  withered  leaves  which  they 
replaced  being  distributed  amongst  the  pilgrims  as 
pious  souvenirs.2 

It   was  predominantly,    though   by   no   means  ex- 
clusively, a  Greek  development  to  associate  a  particular 
god    with    a   particular    variety    of    tree.       The    oak, 
excelling  all  others  in  majestic  strength  and  inherent 
vigour,  became  the  emblem  and  embodiment  of  Zeus.  ^ 
The    connection    arose    in    all    probability    from    theX 
primitive   worship   of  the   Pelasgic   Zeus   in   the    oak 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  467. 
2  De  Gubernatis,  Mythologie  des  Plantes,  vol.  ii.  p.  26  et  seq. 


36  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

grove  of  Dodona,  but  in  classical  times  it  was  accepted 
v  throughout  Greece.     On  coins  and  in  other  works  of 
art  the  god  is  frequently  represented  as  crowned  with 
oak  leaves,  or  as   standing  or  sitting  beside   an  oak- 
tree.1  ^  To  have  partaken  of  the  acorns  of  Zeus  was  a 
'  vernacular  expression  for  having  acquired  wisdom  and 
knowledge.      This  especial  sanctity  of  the  oak  as  the 
\\  tree  of  the  father  of  the  gods  passed  into  Italy,  and 
Virgil  speaks  of  it  as— 

Jove's  own  tree 
That  holds  the  world  in  awful  sovereignty. 

More  sacred  even  than  the  oak  to 
Zeus  was  the  laurel  to  Apollo.  No 
sanctuary  of  his  was  complete  without 
it ;  none  could  be  founded  where  the 
soil  was  unfavourable  to  its  growth. 
FIG.  16.— Apollo  on  No  worshipper  could  share  in  his  rites 

£££±2;  who  had  not  a  crown  of  laurel  on  his 

his  hand.  head    or    a  branch    in    his  'hand.       As 

y  endowed  with  the  power  of  the  god, 
who  was  at  once  the  prophet,  poet, 
redeemer,  and  protector  of  his  people,  the  laurel 
assumed  an  important  and  many  -  sided  role  in 
ceremonial  symbolism.2  The  staff  of  laurel  in 
the  hand  of  the  reciting  poet  was  assumed  to 
assist  his  inspiration,  in  the  hand  of  the  prophet 
or  diviner  to  help  him  to  see  hidden  things. 
Thus  the  use  of  the  laurel  played  an  essential  part 
in  the  oracular  ceremonial  of  Delphi.  Everywhere, 
in  short,  the  bearing  of  the  laurel  bough  was 
the  surest  way  to  the  god's  protection  and  favour. 
The  conception  was  slow  to  die.  Clement,  writing 
about  200  A.D.,  still  finds  the  warning  necessary  that 

1  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  pp.  108-110.  2  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  345. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  37 

4 'one  must  not  hope  to  obtain  reconciliation  with  God 
by  means  of  laurel  branches  adorned  with  red  and 
white  ribbons."1 

By  an  easy  transition  the  laurel  became  sacred  also 
to  Aesculapius.  As  the  source  at  once  of  a  valuable 
remedy  and  a  deadly  poison,  it  was  held  in  high  esteem 
by  Greek  physicians.  It  was  popularly  believed  that 
spirits  could  be  cast  out  by  its  means,  and  it  was  usual 
to  affix  a  laurel  bough  over  the  doorway  in  cases  of 
serious  illness,  in  order  to  avert  death  and  keep  evil 
spirits  at  bay.2 

The  ceremonial  use  of  the  laurel  passed  from 
Greece  into  Italy.  When  the  Sibylline  books  were 
consulted  at  Rome,  the  laurel  of  prophecy  always 
adorned  the  chair  of  the  priest.3  Victors  were  crowned 
with  laurel,  and  in  Roman  triumphs  the  soldiers 
decked  their  spears  and  helmets  with  its  leaves. 

The  tree  of  Aphrodite  was  the  myrtle.4  It  was 
held  to  have  the  power  both  of  creating  and  of  per- 
petuating love,  and  hence  from  the  earliest  times  was 
used  in  marriage  ceremonies.  In  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries  the  initiates  crowned  themselves  with  the 
oak  leaves  of  Zeus  and  the  myrtle  of  Aphrodite.  The 
Graces,  her  attendants,  were  represented  as  wearing 
myrtle  chaplets,  and  her  worshippers  crowned  them- 
selves with  myrtle  sprays.  At  Rome  Venus  was 
worshipped  under  the  name  of  Myrtea  in  her  temple 
at  the  foot  of  the  Aventine.  The  apple-tree  held  a 
subsidiary  but  yet  important  place  in  the  cult  of 
Aphrodite.  Its  fruit  was  regarded  as  an  appropriate 
offering  to  her  and,  according  to  Theocritus,  played 

1  Clemens  Alex.,  Protrepticus,  cap.       .     3  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  351. 
I,  sect.  10.  4  Ibid.  p.  445. 

^  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  407. 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


its  part  in  love  games.1     The  apples  of  Atalanta  had 

no  doubt  a  symbolical  significance. 

Athena  also  had  her  special  tree.     According  to 

mythology    she    sprang    fully    armed    from    the    head 

of  Zeus,  but  research  into  the  origins  of  the  gods 
makes  it  much  more  probable  that 
her  true  pedigree  was  from  the  olive, 
which  grew  wild  upon  the  Athenian 
Acropolis,  the  chief  seat  of  her  wor- 
ship. Mr.  M'Lennan  even  inclined 
to  regard  the  olive  as  originally  the 

FIG.    17.  —  Coin    of  totem  of  the  Athenians.2     At  any  rate 
Athens,  of  the  age  thejr  connection  w;th  that  tree  dates 

of     Pericles     or 

earlier,     showing  from  an  ancient  time.     "  The  produce 

olive  spray.  Qf     ^    olive.tree    had     an     almQSt    re_ 


ligious  value  for  the  men  of  Attica,  and  the  physical 

side    of   Greek    civilisation   much    depended    on    it." 

From  the  era  of  Pericles  onwards 

the  coins  of  Athens  were  stamped 

with    the    olive-branch,    amongst 

other  usual  accompaniments  of  the 

tutelary  goddess.    Every  sanctuary 

and    temple    of   Athena    had    its 

sacred  olive-tree,   which   was   re- 

garded as  the  symbol  of  the  divine 

peace  and  protection.     Naturally 

a    legend    arose    to    explain    the 

connection.      Athena   and    Poseidon,    being    at   vari- 

ance    as     to     which     of     them     should     name     the 

newly-founded  city  of  Athens,   referred  the   question 

to  the  gods,   who    in  general    assembly  decreed  the 

privilege  to  that  claimant  who  should  give  the  most 

1  Theocritus,  Idyll,  vi.  7.  '2  Fortnightly  Revieiv,  February  1870. 

3  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  292. 


FIG.    1 8. —Coin   of  Athens, 
third  century  B.C. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  39 

useful  present  to  the  inhabitants  of  earth.  Poseidon 
struck  the  ground  with  his  trident  and  a  horse  sprang 
forth.  But  Athena  "  revealed  the  spray  of  the  gray- 
green  olive,  a  divine  crown  and  glory  for  bright 
Athens."  And  the  gods  decided  that  the  olive,  as 
the  emblem  of  peace,  was  a  higher  gift  to  man  than 
the  horse,  which  was  the  symbol  of  war.  So  Athena 
named  the  city  after  herself  and  became  its  protectress. 
This  myth,  which,  according  to  Mr.  Farnell,  is  one  of 
the  very  few  creation-myths  in  Greek  folk-lore,  was  a 
favourite  subject  in  art,  and  is  frequently  represented 
on  late  Attic  coins.2 

Other  gods  had  their  sacred  trees :  Dionysus,  the 
vine ;  Dis  and  Persephone,  the  poplar,  which  was 
supposed  to  grow  on  the  banks  of  Acheron.  The 
cypress,  called  by  Greeks  and  Romans  alike  the 
"  mournful  tree,"  was  also  sacred  to  the  rulers  of  the 
underworld,  and  to  their  associates,  the  Fates  and 
Furies.  As  such  it  was  customary  to  plant  it  by  the 
grave,  and,  in  the  event  of  a  death,  to  place  it  either 
before  the  house  or  in  the  vestibule,  in  order  to  warn 
those  about  to  perform  a  sacred  rite  against  entering 
a  place  polluted  by  a  dead  body.3 

In  regard  to  the  number  of  trees  which  they  held 
sacred  the  Semitic  nations  rivalled  the  Greeks.  They 
venerated  "  the  pines  and  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the 
evergreen  oaks  of  the  Palestinian  hills,  the  tamarisks 
of  the  Syrian  jungles,  the  acacias  of  the  Arabian 
wadies,"  besides  such  cultivated  trees  as  the  palm,  the 
olive,  and  the  vine.  But  there  is  no  clear  evidence  to 
prove  that  they  ever  coupled  a  particular  species  of 
tree  with  a  particular  god.  In  Phoenicia  the  cypress 

1  Euripides,  Troades^  795.  3  Pliny,  xvi.  60  ;   Servius  ad  Virgil. 

2  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  325.  Aen.  iv.  507. 


40  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

was  sacred  to  Astarte,  but  it  was  equally  connected 
with  the  god  Melcarth,  who  was  believed  to  have 
planted  the  cypress-trees  at  Daphne.  "  If  a  tree 
belonged  to  a  particular  deity,  it  was  not  because  it 
was  of  a  particular  species,  but  because  it  wras  the 
natural  wood  of  the  place  where  the  god  was  wor- 
shipped." l  It  is  true  that  the  Chaldaeans  regarded 
the  cedar  as  the  special  tree  of  the  god  Ea,  but  the 
association  was  probably  borrowed,  like  the  god  him- 
self, from  the  non-Semitic  Accadians,  while  the  connec- 
tion of  the  Nabataean  god,  Dusares,  with  the  vine 
may  be  traced  to  Hellenic  influence. 

Outside  the  Semitic  area  individual  gods  are  often 
found,  as  in  Greece,  linked  with  particular  kinds  of  trees. 
In  Persia  the  cypress  was  the  sacred  tree  of  the 
god  Mithra,  while  in  Egypt  the  acacia  was  intimately 
associated  with  Osiris.  On  an  ancient  sarcophagus 
an  acacia  is  represented  with  .the  device,  "  Osiris  shoots 
up."  And  in  mortuary  pictures  the  god  is-  sometimes 
represented  as  a  mummy  covered  with  a  tree  or  with 
growing  plants.  In  both  cases  the  idea  of  life  arising 
out  of  death  is  probably  implied. 

In  India  each  Buddha  was  associated  with  his 
own  bodhi-tree  or  tree  of  wisdom.  The  trumpet- 
flower,  the  sal -tree,  the  acacia,  the  pippala,  and  the 
banian  all  belonged  to  different  Buddhas,  and  are 
so  depicted  on  the  Stupa  of  Bharhut.  Here  in  the 
case  of  the  earliest  of  the  Buddhas  whose  bodhi- 
tree  has  been  found,  the  Buddha  Vipasin,  the 
particular  tree  represented  is  the  pdtali  or  trumpet- 
flower.  In  front  of  it  is  placed  "a  throne  or  bodhi- 
manda,  before  which  two  people  are  kneeling,  whilst  a 

1  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  175. 
2  Tiele,  Religion  de  FEgypte,  etc.  p.  83. 


THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE 


crowd  of  others  with  joined  hands  are  standing  on  each 
side  of  the  tree."  l  The  Buddha  Gautama's  tree  was 
the  pippala  or  Ficus  religiosa,  which  is  much  more 
elaborately  treated  at  Bharhut  than  any  other  bodhi- 
tree.  In  the  sculpture  representing  its  adoration,  "the 
trunk  is  entirely  surrounded  by  an  open  pillared 
building  with  an  upper  story,  ornamented  with  niches 
containing  um- 
brellas. Two  um- 
brellas are  placed 
in  the  top  of  the 
tree,  and  numer- 
ous streamers  are 
hanging  from  the 
branches.  In  the 
two  upper  corners 
are  flying  figures 
with  wings,  bring- 
ing offerings  of 
garlands.  On  each 
side  there  is  a  male 
figure  raising  a 
garland  in  his  right 
hand  and  holding 
the  tip  of  his 
tongue  with  the  thumb  and  forefinger  of  his  left.  In 
the  lower  story  of  the  building  is  a  throne  in  front  of 
a  tree.  Two  figures,  male  and  female,  are  kneeling 
before  the  throne,  while  a  female  figure  is  standing  to 
the  left,  and  a  Naga  Raja  with  his  hands  crossed  on 
his  breast  to  the  right.  This  figure  is  distinguished 
by  a  triple  serpent  crest.  To  the  extreme  right  there 
is  an  isolated  pillar  surmounted  by  an  elephant  holding 

1  A.  Cunningham,  The  Sttipa  of  Bharhut  (London,  1879),  p.  113. 


FIG.  19. — The  Bodhi-tree  of  Kanaka 
Muni  {Ficus  glomeratd). 

(The  Stfipa  of  Bharhut,  by  Major-General  Cunningham, 
Plate  xxiv.  4.) 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


out  a  garland  in  his  trunk.  On  the  domed  roof  of  the 
building  is  inscribed,  *  The  Bodhi-Tree  of  the  Buddha 
Sakya  Muni.'J  In  another  sculpture  elephants  old 
and  young  are  paying  their  devotions  to  a  banian- 
tree,  while  others  are  bringing  garlands  to  hang  on  its 


FIG.  20. — Wild  elephants  paying  their  devotions  to  the  sacred 
banian  of  Kasyapa  Buddha. 

(The  Stnpa  of  Bharhut,  Plate  xv.) 

branches.     The  important  bearing  of  these  sculptures 
on  the  history  of  tree-worship  is  obvious. 

It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  neither  in  the 
many  sculptured  scenes  at  Bharhut  and  Buddha 
Gaya,  all  of  which  are  contemporary  with  Asoka 
(circa  250  B.C.),  nor  even  in  the  much  later  sculptures 
of  Sanchi  dating  from  the  end  of  the  first  century  A.D. 

1  A.  Cunningham,  op.  cit.  p.  114. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  43 

is  there  any  representation  of  Buddha,  the  sole  objects 
of  reverence  being  stupas  (representations  of  the 
tombs  of  holy  men),  wheels,  or  trees.  At  a  later 
date  the  tree  appears  to  have  lost  its  organic  con- 
nection with  the  venerated  personage,  and  to  have 
preserved  only  a  ceremonial  and  symbolic  significance, 
for  the  Bo-tree,  under  which  truth  gradually  unfolded 
itself  to  the  meditating  Gautama,  is  regarded  as  sacred 
by  Buddhists 'in  much  the  same  way  as  the  cross  is 
by  Christians. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  the 
earliest  forms  of  worship  current  in  India,  the  alliance 
between  the  plant  world  and  the  divine  essence  was 
extremely  intimate.  The  great  creative  god  Brahma, 
who,  by  the  light  of  his  countenance,  dispelled  the 
primeval  gloom,  and  by  his  divine  influence  evoked 
the  earth  from  the  primeval  ocean,  is  represented  in 
Hindu  theology  as  having-  emanated  from  a  golden 
lotus  which  had  been  quickened  into  life  when  the 
spirit  of  Om  moved  over  the  face  of  the  waters. 
Again,  in  Brahminical  worship  the  very  essence  of 
the  deity  is  supposed  to  descend  into  his  tree.  The 
tulasi  or  holy  basil  of  India  is  believed  by  the 
Hindus  to  be  pervaded  by  the  divinity  of  Vishnu  and 
of  his  wife  Lakshmi,  and  hence  is  venerated  as  a  god. 
It  opens  the  gates  of  heaven  to  the  pious  worshipper, 
and  those  who  uproot  it  will  be  punished  by  Vishnu  in 
time  and  eternity.1 

In  fact,  in  the  twilight  of  religion,  wherever  we 
turn,  the  same  idea  of  a  tree-inhabiting  god  prevails. 
In  the  mythology  of  Northern  Europe  the  grove  of 
Upsala,  the  most  sacred  spot  in  all  the  Scandinavian 
peninsula,  was  the  home  of  Woden,  the  god  who,  after 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  245. 


44 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


hanging  for  nine  nights  on  the  gallows-tree,  descended 
to  the  underworld  and  brought  back  the  prize  of 
wisdom  in  the  form  of  nine  rune  songs.1  In  the 
Middle  Ages,  according  to  the  rule  by  which  the  gods 
of  one  age  become  the  demons  of  the  next,  Woden 
was  converted  into  Satan,  his  grove  became  the 
Brocken,  and  the  Valkyrie  degenerated  into  witches. 
Taara,  the  supreme  god  of  the  Finns  and  Esthonians, 
was  associated  with  the  oak,  and  the  same  is  true  of 
the  Norse  god,  Balder,  at  whose  death,  we  are  told, 
men,  animals,  and  plants  wept.  The  principal  god  of 
the  ancient  Prussians  was  supposed  to  dwell  by 
preference  in  the  great  oak  at  Romove,2  before  which 
a  hierarchy  of  priests  kept  up  a  continual  fire  of  oak- 
logs.  The  oak  was  veiled  from  view,  like  the  pictures 
in  a  modern  continental  church,  and  only  shown  from 

time  to  time  to  its 
worshippers.  The  grove 
where  it  stood  was  so 
sacred  that  only  the 
consecrated  were  al- 
lowed to  enter,  and  no 
branch  in  it  might  be 
injured.3 

If  proof  were  needed 
of  the  reverence  with 
which  the  tree  was  re- 
garded in  ancient  times 
and  of  its  hold  upon 
the  reverence  of  the  people,  as  being  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  god,  it  could  be  found  alone  in  the  number 


FIG.  21. — Sacred  sycamore,  with 
offerings. 

(Maspero,  op.  cit.~) 


1  C.  F.  Keary,  The  Vikings  of 
Western  Christendom  (London,  1891), 
pp.  36,  52,  53. 


2  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  64. 

3  J.  Grimm,  op.  cit.\o\.  i.  p.  369. 


THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE 


45 


of  the  gifts,  which,  by  the  evidence  of  ancient  literature 
and  art,  it  was  the  practice  to  hang  upon  its  branches 
or  place  about  its  trunk.  In  Arabia  there  was  a  tree, 
identified  by  Robertson  Smith  with  the  sacred  acacia 
of  Nakhla,  the 
dwelling-place  of 
the  goddess  Al- 
'Ozza,  on  which 
the  people  of 
Mecca  at  an  annual 
pilgrimage  hung 
weapons,  gar- 
ments, ostrich  eggs, 
and  other  offer- 
ings.1 It  is  spoken 
of  in  the  traditions 
of  Mahomet  by  the 
vague  name  of  a 
dhdt  anwdt,  or 
"  tree  to  hang 
things  on."  An- 
other Arabian  tree, 
the  sacred  date- 
palm  at  Nejran, 
was  also  adored 
at  an  annual  feast, 
and  hung  with  fine  clothes  and  women's  ornaments.2 
In  Egypt,  offerings  of  figs,  grapes,  cucumbers,  etc. 
were  habitually  made  to  the  deities  inhabiting  the 
sycamores. 

A  similar  custom  was  well  known  in  Greece,  as  is 
proved  by  the  many  vases  and  sculptured  tablets  in 

1  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  169. 
2  Sir  W.  Ouseley,  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  369. 


FIG.  22. — Sacred  tree  of  Artemis,  hung 
with  weapons  of  the  chase. 

(Botticher,  Fig.  9.) 


46  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

which  the  tree  is  shown  hung  with  consecrated  fillets 
and  offerings,  while  the  altar  beneath  groans  with  gifts. 
Statius,  writing  in  the  second  century  B.C.,  describes  a 
widely  celebrated  tree,  amongst  many  others  similarly 
laden,  as  being  covered  with  bows  and  arrows,  heads 
of  boars,  skins  of  lions,  and  huge  horns,  which  had 
been  dedicated  to  it  as  trophies  of  the  chase.1  Con- 
querors, returning  from  battle,  would  hang  their 
weapons  on  the  sacred  tree  with  a  dedication  to  the 
all-powerful  Zeus.  The  arms  thus  dedicated  were 
respected  even  by  the  enemy. 

This  custom  of  making  offerings  to  the  tree  is  no 
doubt  of  great  antiquity.  In  the  legend  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,  Phryxus,  having  been  carried  by  the  fabled 
ram  across  the  Hellespont,  sacrificed  it  to  Ares,  and 
hung  ,its  priceless  fleece  on  the  boughs  of  a  sacred 
beech-tree,2  whence  it  was  subsequently  recovered  by 
Jason.  Such  dedication  at  the  shrines  of  the  gods  of 
something  that  had  been  of  service  and  still  had  value 
to  the  worshipper,  was  very  common  in  Greek  and 
Roman  worship,  and  in  many  cases  the  tree  was  the 
recipient  of  the  gift.3  The  rich  brought  their  jewels, 
the  poor  their  homely  tools  and  utensils.  The  fisher- 
man dedicated  his  nets  in  gratitude  for  an  exceptional 
catch.  The  shepherd  offered  his  flute  as  a  welcome 
gift  to  Pan.  Some  of  the  dedicatory  inscriptions 
preserve  for  us  the  pathos  of  the  gift.  "  Daphnis,  the 
flute-player,  bowed  with  shaking  age,  has  here  dedi- 
cated his  shepherd's  staff,  too  heavy  for  his  weak 
hand,  to  meadow-loving  Pan."  Lais,  grown  old, 
hangs  her  too  truthful  mirror  on  the  sacred  tree  of 
Aphrodite.  "Take  it,  O  lovely  Cytherea ;  to  thee 

1  Statius,  Theb.  ix.  585.  3  Cf.  Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  viii.  743. 

2  Apollon.  Rhod.  Argonaut.  2.  4  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  79. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  47 

alone  is  undying  beauty  given."  In  the  same  way 
Bacchic  revellers,  their  frenzy  past,  brought  to  the 
tree  the  cymbals,  robes,  and  perfumed  tresses  they  had 
used.2 

There  is  further  evidence  of  the  sanctity  of  the 
tree  in  the  important  function  given  to  branches  and 
wreaths  in  religious  ceremonies,  a  custom  which  can 
find  logical  -explanation  only  in  a  precedent  tree- 
worship  deeply  rooted  in  the  popular  mind.  In  the 
service  of  the  gods  of  Greece  and  Rome  the  wreath 
was  indispensable.  An  uncrowned  worshipper  was  in 
the  position  of  the  man  in  the  parable  who  had  no 
wedding  garment.  And  the  wreath  must  have  been 
taken  from  the  particular  tree  of  the  god  worshipped, 
so  that  the  worshipper  might  be  placed  in  closest 
communion  with  the  deity,  and  remain  inviolate  from 
molestation  while  thus  clothed  with  the  divine  pro- 


tection.3 


The  carrying  of  the  sacred  branch  in  solemn  pro- 
cession formed  the  essential  feature  in  some  of  the 
most  important  religious  festivals  of  Greece.  At  the 
Daphnephoria,  held  every  nine  years  at  Thebes  in 
Boeotia  in  honour  of  Apollo,  the  chief  post  in  the  pro- 
cession was  held  by  the  Daphnephorus,  or  laurel-bearer, 
a  boy  chosen  for  his  strength  and  beauty.  He  was 
followed  to  the  temple  of  the  god  by  a  chorus  of 
maidens,  also  bearing  branches  and  chanting  a  pro- 
cessional hymn,  and  was  regarded  for  the  occasion  as 
the  priest  of  Apollo,  who  himself  bore  amongst  his 
many  other  appellations  that  of  Daphnephorus,  because 
he  had  brought  the  laurel  to  Delphi  and  planted  it 
there.4 

1  Orelli,  No.  1266.  3  Ibid.  chap.  xxi. 

2  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  88.  4  Ibid.  p.  385. 


48  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

At  the  Pyanepsia  and  the  Thargelia,  two  important 
Athenian  festivals,  the  Eiresione,  a  harvest  wreath  of 
olive  or  laurel  bound  round  with  red  and  white  wool, 
and  hung  with  the  choicest  first  -  fruits,  was  borne 
about  by  singing  boys,  while  offerings  were  made  to 
the  gods.1  A  vine  branch  with  the  grapes  upon  it 
gave  its  name  to  another  Athenian  festival,  the  Oscho- 
phoria,  or  grape  carrying,  held  in  honour  of  Dionysus. 
A  race  between  chosen  youths  formed  one  of  the 
events  of  the  festival,  the  competitors  running  from 
the  temple  of  Dionysus  to  that  of  Athena,  with 
boughs  in  their  hands.2 

Apart,  however,  from  these  important  festivals,  the 
use  of  wreaths  or  branches  was  a  familiar  incident  in 
the  daily  life  of  the  Greeks,  bearing  with  it  always  a 
sort  of  religious  significance.  The  bringer  of  good 
news  was  rewarded  with  a  wreath  ;  the  guests  at  a 
feast  were  crowned  with  flowers.  No  gift  to  the  gods 
was  complete  without  its  floral  accompaniment,  and 
their  statues  were  often  hidden  under  the  wreaths 
brought  thither  as  the  most  acceptable  offering. 

It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  this  lavish  employ- 
ment of  blossom  and  leaf  as  the  expression  of  a  religious 
emotion  originally  sprang  from  reverence  for  the  tree 
as  the  favourite  home  of  a  god.  The  Greeks,  with 
their  instinctive  love  for  all  things  beautiful,  naturally 
pushed  this  graceful  custom  further  than  other  races. 
But  the  ceremonial  use  of  branches  and  flowers  was 
common  throughout  the  East.  The  Chaldaean  sacred 
texts  mention  the  use  of  " green  branches"  in  religious 
ceremonies.3  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  the  Israel- 
ites were  enjoined  to  "  take  the  boughs  of  goodly  trees, 

1  Botticher,  chap.  xxv.  2  Ibid.  p.  398. 

3  Sayce,  op.  cit.  pp.  536,  539. 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  49 

branches  of  palm-trees,  and  the  boughs  of  thick  trees 
and  willows  of  the  brook,  and  rejoice  before  the 
Lord."1  The  Apocrypha  mentions  the  ''festal  olive 
boughs  of  the  Temple."5  In  Persia  and  Armenia  it 
was  customary  to  bear  a  branch  when  approaching  the 
god.  In  Egypt  I  sis  was  worshipped  with  sprays  of 
absinthe,  palm-branches  were  carried  in  funeral  pro- 
cessions, and  lotus  wreaths  usually  worn  at  feasts, 
whilst  in  the  Assyrian  sculptures  illustrious  persons 
are  frequently  represented  holding  a  flower.3 

However  little  benefit  the  votaries  of  trees  and 
images  derived  from  their  observances,  apart  from  the 
subjective  strength  and  solace  that  flow  from  every 
act  of  worship,  there  was  at  least  one  tangible  service 
their  gods  could  render  them — the  right  of  sanctuary 
and  asylum.  For  the  sacred  tree,  sharing  as  it  did  in 
the  protective  power  of  the  indwelling  deity,  offered 
an  inviolable  refuge  to  the  persecuted  and  the  god's 
forgiveness  to  the  sinner  who  implored  it.  To  have 
touched  it  was  regarded  amongst  the  Greeks  as 
equivalent  to  having  touched  an  altar  or  statue  of  the 
god.  A  branch  of  it,  entwined  with  the  consecrated 
fillet,  assured  its  bearer  from  persecution.  Hence  a 
possible  explanation  of  the  legend  of  the  young 
Dionysus  standing  secure  amongst  the  branches  of  the 
sacred  tree  whilst  the  flames  raged  around  him. 

Frequent  references  occur  in  the  Classics  to  tree- 
sanctuaries.  The  Amazons,  defeated  by  Hercules, 
found  a  safe  asylum  beneath  the  holy  tree  at  Ephesus, 
which  was  worshipped  both  as  the  symbol  and  temple 
of  Artemis,  before  her  statue  was  set  up  in  the  tree  or 
her  temple  built  around  it.4  Herodotus  relates  how 

1  Leviticus  xxiii.  40.  3  Botticher,  op.  tit.  pp.  321,  322. 

2  2  Maccabees  xiv.  4.  4  Pausanias,  vii.  2,  4. 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


Cleomenes,  having  burnt  the  sacred  grove  of  Argos, 


FIG.  23.— Sacred  laurel  of  Apollo  at  Delphi,  adorned  with  fillets  and 

votive  tablets  ;  beneath  it  the  god  appearing  to  protect  Orestes. 

(From  a  vase-painting,  Botticher,  Fig.  2.) 

together  with  the   five   thousand   conquered    Argives 
who  had  taken  refuge  there,  was  visited  by  the  gods 


ii  THE  GOD  AND  THE  TREE  51 

with  madness  for  his  act  of  sacrilege.1  Orestes,  in  his 
flight  from  the  Furies,  is  represented  on  a  Greek  vase 
as  seeking  refuge  beneath  Apollo's  laurel.2  The  god 
appears  out  of  the  tree  to  succour  him  and  scare  away 
his  pursuers.  The  cypress  grove  on  the  Acropolis  at 
Phlius  in  Peloponnesus  was  another  instance.  Fugitives 
from  justice  on  reaching  it  became  inviolable,  and 
escaped  prisoners  hung  upon  its  trees  the  chains  for 
which  they  had  no  further  use,3  just  as  the  modern 
cripple,  whose  limbs  have  been  freed  from  the  prison 
of  his  palsy,  dedicates  his  crutches  to  "our  Lady  of 
Lourdes." 

1  Herodotus,  vi.  75.  2  Botticher,  op.  dt.  p.  35. 

3  Pausanias,  ii.  13,  3. 


CHAPTER    III 

WOOD-DEMONS    AND    TREE-SPIRITS 

IN  nearly  all  parts  of  the  world,  as  at  nearly  all  periods 
of  history,  we  find  evidences  of  a  belief  in  the  existence 
of  wood-spirits  and  tree-spirits,  which,  however  they 
may  differ  in  outward  form,  are  strangely  similar  in' 
their  general  characteristics.  It  cannot  be  asserted  of 
all  these  beings  that  they  were  regarded  as  the  actual 
spirits  of  individual  trees,  connected  with  them  as 

Closely  as  a  man's  soul  is  with  his  body,  but  it  is 
emphatically  true  of  some  of  them.  To  the  class  of 
wood-spirits  as  a  whole  belong  certain  at  least  of  the 

jinni  of  Arabia,  the  woodland  spirits  of  Greek  and 
Roman  mythology,  and  the  wild  men  and  elves  of 
European  folk-lore,  besides  the  tree-inhabiting  spirits 
of  various  uncivilised  races.  Though  not  always 
sharply  demarcated  from  the  gods,  they  differ  from  them, 
as  a  rule,  in  being  regarded  and  spoken  of  generically, 
and  in  not  having  stated  relations  with  man.  Their 
alliances  are  rather  with  trees,  plants,  and  animals, 
whose  growth  and  prosperity  are  often  believed  to  be 
under  their  protection,  and  their  presence  is  often 
assumed  to  be  expressed  in  natural  phenomena,  in  the 
mysterious  sounds  of  the  woods,  and  in  the  fury  of  the 
storm.  To  man  they  are  frequently  unfriendly,  and 


CHAP,  in          WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  53 

numerous  observances,  still  practised  in  uncivilised 
parts,  have  arisen  from  the  belief  that  it  was  necessary 
to  propitiate  their  favour. 

Broadly  speaking,  their  friendliness  to  man  is  directly 
proportionate  to  their  human  semblance,  and  this  in 
its  turn  would  seem  to  depend  on  the  extent  to  which 
man  has  been  able  to  conquer  the  dangers  of  the 
regions  where  they  dwell.  The  farther  back  they  are 
traced  the  more  animal-like  and  inhuman  their  appear- 
ance. They  preceded  the  gods  and  outlasted  them, 
flourishing  in  times  when  these  were  still  animal  and 
totemistic,  and  retaining  their  animal  characteristics 
long  after  the  gods  had  become  anthropomorphic.  To 
the  peasant  mind  there  was,  perhaps,  no  very  clear 
distinction  between  the  two  classes,  and  the  line  between 
them  has  never  been  an  unpassable  one,  for  demons 
may  develop  into  gods,  just  as  gods  may  degenerate 
into  demons.  It  is  not  claimed  that  all,  or  indeed 
most  demons  were  tree-spirits  in  their  origin,  but  a 
large  class  of  them  at  any  rate  were  closely  associated 
with  vegetable  life  and  the  phenomena  that  foster  or 
threaten  it. 

Chalclaean  mythology  recognised,  side  by  side  with 
gods  emphatically  human,  a  class  of  fabulous  monsters 
who  were  essentially  demons  and  inferior  spirits.  There 
is  not  much  evidence  to  couple  these  monsters  with 
trees,  but  in  one  of  the  Babylonian  hymns  the  aid  of 
the  gods  is  invoked  against  a  terrible  demon  who 
a  makes  all  creatures  hurry  in  fear,"  and  of  whom  it  is 
stated  that  "  his  hand  is  the  storm-demon,  his  eye  is 
filled  with  the  shadow  of  the  forest,  the  sole  of  his  foot 
isthelullub-tree."1 

In  the  case  of  the  jinni  of  Arabia  the  connection 

1  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  493. 


54  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

with  trees  is  more  clearly  demonstrable.  They  were 
regarded  as  hairy  monsters,  more  like  beasts  than  men, 
haunting  dense,  untrodden  thickets  and  endowed  with 
the  power  of  assuming  various  shapes.  Such  an 
uncouth  and  alarming  presentment  may  well  have 
arisen  from  their  presumed  association  with  places, 
which,  as  the  natural  lairs  of  dangerous  animals,  were 
perilous  to  man,  but  "the  association  of  certain  kinds 
of  jinni  with  trees  must  in  many  cases  be  regarded  as 
primary,  the  trees  themselves  being  conceived  as  ani- 
mated demoniac  beings."1  They  have  apparently  had 
a  longer  career  than  most  demons  of  the  class,  for 
their  existence  is  still  firmly  believed  in  by  certain 
Bedouins,  who  asseverate  that  they  have  actually  seen 
them.  Mr.  Theodore  Bent  found  the  same  superstitious 
dread  of  the  jinni  both  in  the  Hadramaut  and  in 
Dhofar.  They  are  described  as  semi -divine  spirits, 
who  live  by  rocks  near  the  streams,  under  trees,  or  in 
the  lakes.  Mr.  Bent  could  not  induce  the  Bedouins 
of  his  escort  to  gather  a  certain  water-plant  for  fear  of 
offending  the  jinn  of  the  lake.  In  fact  in  the  Gara 
Mountains  the  fear  of  the  jinni,  and  the  skill  of  certain 
magicians  in  keeping  them  friendly,  appear  to  constitute 
the  only  tangible  forms  of  religion.2 

Under  the  word  selrlm,  hairy  monsters,  E.V. 
"satyrs"  and  "devils,"  the  Bible  makes  occasional 
mention  of  mythical  creatures  who  were  presumably 
related  to  the  Arabian  jinni?  They  are  represented 
as  frequenting  waste -places,  forsaken  by  man  and 
given  over  to  nettles  and  brambles.  In  one  passage 
the  word  is  used  of  the  heathen  gods  of  Canaan,4  whose 
close  association  with  trees  has  already  been  noticed. 

1  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  125.  3  Isaiah  xiii.  21  ;  xxxiv.  14. 

2  Nineteenth  Century,  October  1895,  4  Leviticus  xvii.  7. 
p.  607. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  55 

The  fantastic  monsters  of  the  Egyptian  desert, 
thought  to  appear  only  at  the  moment  when  the  minor 
functions  assigned  to  them  had  to  be  performed,  and 
at  other  times  to  conceal  themselves  in  inanimate 
objects,  are  represented  as  sometimes  dwelling  in  trees 
or  in  stakes  planted  in  the  ground.1  Their  assumed 
complete  incorporation  in  such  objects  is  proved  by 
the  expressive  term  used  by  the  Egyptians — the  objects 
"ate  them  up."  Their  existence  and  their  unfriendliness 
to  man  were  firmly  believed  in.  The  shepherd  feared 
them  for  his  flock,  the  hunter  for  himself.  Similar 
beasts  roamed  through  the  Egyptian  Hades  and 
threatened  the  wayfaring  spirits  of  the  dead. 

These  fragmentary  evidences  are  important  as 
casting  a  side-light  on  the  parallel  superstitions  of  the 
Aryan  races,  amongst  which,  as  we  shall  see,  the  belief 
in  wood-demons  and  tree-spirits  was  almost  universal. 

In  Greek  and  Roman  mythology  there  is  a  whole 
gallery  of  wild  creatures  inhabiting  the  mountains 
and  woods,  and  more  or  less  closely  associated  with 
vegetable  life — centaurs  and  cyclops,  Pans  and  satyrs, 
fauns  and  silvani,  nymphs  and  dryads.  Mannhardt 
has  diligently  compared  these,  mythical  beings  with  the 
wild  people  and  wood-spirits  of  European  folk-lore, 
and  has  clearly  demonstrated  a  remarkable  relation- 
ship.2 In  their  evolution  they  present  a  distinctly 
progressive  humanisation.  The  earliest  of  them,  the 
centaurs  and  cyclops,  remind  us  of  the  fabulous 
monsters  of  Semitic  legend,  and  their  contests  with,  and 
eventual  disappearance  before  the  higher  powers  seem 
paralleled  in  the  similar  conflict  between  the  gods  and 
demons  of  Chaldaea.  Mannhardt  adduces  many  argu- 
ments to  prove  that  the  centaurs  first  originated  as 

1   Maspero,  op.  cit.  pp.  83,  84.  2  Mannhardt  II.  chap.  ii. 


56  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

local  wood  and  mountain  spirits.  Their  earliest  haunt 
was  the  thickly  wooded  Pelion  ;  one  of  them  is 
represented  as  the  son  of  the  dryad  Philyra  or  the 
linden  ;  another  as  the  son  of  Melia  or  the  ash.  Their 
weapons  were  uprooted  trees.  Like  the  European 
wild  men  of  the  woods  they  were  covered  with  long 
shaggy  hair.  Chiron,  the  most  friendly  of  them,  was 
skilled  in  the  use  of  simples  and  in  the  hidden  powers 
of  nature.  Lastly,  their  presence  was  assumed  in  the 
whirlwind  and  other  violent  atmospheric  phenomena. 
All  these  features  class  the  archaic  centaurs  with  the 
undoubted  wood-spirits  of  a  later  mythology.  The 
same  is  probably  true  of  the  cyclops,  whose  character- 
istics— their  single  eye,  their  use  of  uprooted  trees  for 
weapons,  and  their  connection  with  sheep  and  goats- 
may  be  paralleled  amongst  the  legendary  wood-spirits 
of  modern  Europe. 

In  later  times  the  place  of  the  extinct  centaurs  and 
cyclops  was  taken  by  a  tribe,  half  men 'half  goats, 
known  as  Pan,  satyrs,  and  sileni,  who  originally  were 
in  all  probability  local  wood-spirits,  Pan  proceeding 
from  Arcadia,  the  satyrs  from  Argos,  the  sileni  from 
Phrygia.  In  the  case  of  Pan  we  seem  to  see  a  class  of 
doubtfully  amicable  wood -spirits  developing  into  a 
more  or  less  benevolent  god.  The  Greek  poets  of  the 
Periclean  age  speak  of  a  whole  tribe  of  wood-demons 
known  as  Panes  or  Panisci,  from  which  eventually  an 
individual,  "  the  Great  Pan,"  seems  to  have  emerged. 
The  son  of  a  nymph,  Pan  is  called  in  the  Classics 
"god  of  the  wood,"  "companion  of  kids,"  "goat- 
herd." He  is  represented  with  horns  and  goat's  legs, 
standing  beside  a  sacred  oak  or  pine,  a  fir-wreath  on 
his  head,  and  a  branch  in  his  hand.  He  leads  the 
revels  of  the  satyrs,  pipes  and  dances  amongst  the 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  57 

wood-nymphs  under  the  trees,  and  woos  a  pine-tree 
personified  as  Pithys.  Like  other  wood-spirits  he  pre- 
sets the  herds,  and,  as  befits  a  demon  on  the  way 
to  apotheosis,  is  for  the  most  part  friendly  to  man. 
But  he  never,  apparently,  quite  lost  his  original 
character,  for  he  is  sometimes  classed  with  incubi  and 
spirits  who  cause  evil  dreams. 

The  satyr  was  a  degraded,  or  rather  unhumanised 
Pan,  more  sensual  and  malicious  in  character,  coarser 
in  feature,  and  more  bestial  in  form.  Hesiod  calls  the 
satyrs  "a  useless  and  crafty  tribe."  They  were 
originally  wood-demons,  and  men  represented  as  satyrs 
took  part  in  the  festivals  of  Dionysus,  the  chief  of 
vegetation  spirits.  Silenus,  like  Pan,  the  individualised 
head  of  a  class,  was  also  closely  associated  with 
Dionysus.  The  sileni,  in  fact,  were  but  Phrygian 
variants  of  the  satyrs,  and  are  represented  in  the 
Homeric  hymn  to  Aphrodite  as  consorting  with  the 
hamadryads.  In  Art  they  appear  clothed  in  goat- 
skins. It  may  be  added  that  the  modern  Greek 
peasant  still  believes  in  malicious  goat-footed  demons 
who  inhabit  the  mountains.1 

In  Roman  mythology  the  fauns  and  silvani  played 
the  same  part  as  Pan  and  the  satyrs  in  Greece,  and 
the  same  confusion  existed  as  to  whether  they  were 
individual  or  generic.  The  fauns  seldom  appeared  to 
mortal  sight,  but  their  presence  was  made  known  in  the 
weird  noises  and  the  ghostly  appearances  of  the  dark 
forest.  When  seen  they  had  horns  and  goat's  feet, 
though  in  a  later  rendering  they  are  more  human  in 
appearance.  They  guarded  the  flocks  pasturing  in 
the  woods  and,  like  other  wood-spirits,  also  protected 
the  cornfield.  Silvanus  and  the  silvani,  as  their  name 

1  Mannhardt  II.  p.  139. 


58  THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


denotes,  were  tree-spirits  even  more  emphatically  than 
the  fauns.  According  to  Virgil  the  oldest  inhabitants 
of  Latium  allotted  to  Silvanus  a  sacred  grove  and  a 
special  festival  ; l  in  later  times  he  was  universally 
regarded  as  the  patron  of  the  garden  and  field.  At 
harvest  time  an  offering  of  milk  was  poured  over  the 
roots  of  his  sacred  tree.  In  Art,  Silvanus  is  represented 
as  covered  with  hair  (korridus]  and  standing  under,  or 
growing  out  of  a  garlanded  tree,  a  crown  of  pine 
sprays  on  his  head,  a  large  pine  bough  in  one  hand 
and  a  sickle  in  the  other.  An  inscription  speaks  of 
him  as  half  enclosed  in  a  sacred  ash  (sacra  semiclusus 
fraxino).  Another  account  associates  the  silvani  .with 
the  fig-tree,  and  states  that  they  were  called  by  some 
fauni  ficarii.  Both  fauns  and  silvani  had  an  evil 
reputation  for  their  supposed  propensity  to  assault 
women,  to  carry  off  children,  and  to  disturb  the  dreams 
of  sleepers.  The  peasants  of  North  Italy  and  Sicily 
still  believe  in  wood-spirits,  gente  selvatica,  closely 
resembling  the  old  silvani.  A  Sicilian  incantation  is 
addressed  to  the  spirit  of  the  fig-tree  and  the  devils  of 
the  nut-trees.2 

Taking  the  sum  of  their  characteristics,  Mannhardt 
is  doubtless  right  in  classing  these  legendary  beings 
with  the  wood-spirits  met  with  in  the  folk-lore  of 
Northern  Europe. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  female  counterparts  of  these 
woodland  creatures  that  the  idea  of  an  actual  tree-soul 
is  most  clearly  exemplified.  The  most  striking  instance 
is  the  familiar  one  of  the  hamadryads,  the  deep- 
bosomed  nymphs  of  wooded  Ida,  to  whose  care 
Aphrodite  entrusted  the  infant  Aeneas,  and  whose 
very  name  expresses  their  intimate  connection  with 

1  Aeneid,  viii.  60 1.  2  Mannhardt  II.  p.  31. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  59 

their  trees.  To  quote  the  Homeric  hymn  to  Aphro- 
dite, which  was  probably  written  under  Phrygian 
influence,  "  They  belong  neither  to  the  mortals  nor  to 
the  immortals  :  they  live  long,  indeed,  enjoying  im- 
mortal food,  and  with  the  immortals  they  join  in  the 
lordly  dance.  The  sileni  mate  with  them,  and  Hermes, 
too,  in  the  privy  recesses  of  delightful  grottoes.  With 
them,  when  they  were  born,  upon  the  mountains  lofty 
pines  and  oaks  sprang  forth  from  the  earth  that  gives 
food  to  man.  Yet  when  at  last  the  fate  of  death  over- 
takes them,  first  the  beautiful  trees  wither  upon  the 
earth,  the  bark  dies  around  them,  their  branches  fall 
away,  and  therewith  the  souls  of  the  nymphs  leave  the 
light  of  the  sun."1 

Pindar,  who  would  appear  to  have  first  given  them 
the  name  of  hamadryads,  speaks  of  them  as  having 
the  same  length  of  life  as  a  tree.2 

But  the  case  of  the  hamadryads  is  by  no  means 
an  isolated  example  of  the  Greek  belief  in  spirits  whose 
life  was  bound  up  with  the  life  of  the  tree.  In  the 
Homeric  hymn  to  Ceres  the  nymphs  rejoice  when  the 
oaks  are  in  leaf,  and  weep  when  their  branches  become 
bare.3  Elsewhere  a  nymph  is  depicted  imploring 
that  the  oak  wherein  she  dwelt  should  not  be  hewn 
down,  and  as  bringing  vengeance  on  him  who  ignored 
her  entreaty.4  It  was  not  only  the  oak  and  the  pine 
that  might  be  inhabited  by  a  spirit.  Amongst  the 
names  of  nymphs  that  have  come  down  to  us  is  Philyra 
(the  linden),  Daphne  (the  laurel),  Rhoea  (the  pome- 
granate), and  Helike  (the  willow).  In  later  times  an 
attempt  was  made  in  some  cases  to  explain  the  connec- 

1  Hymn.     Homer.     Aphrod.    259-  3  Hymn,  in  Cererem,  41. 

273.  4  Apollonius    Rhod.,  Argonaut,    i. 

2  Plutarch,  De  Defect.  Orac.  1 1.  471  et  seq. 


60  THE  SACRED  TREE  GHAP. 

tion  by  metamorphosis,  a  living  nymph  being  supposed 
to  have  been  converted  into  a  tree,  but  it  is  extremely 
probable  that  this  was  an  inversion  of  the  primitive 
nexus. 

There  are  many  instances  closely  parallel  to  these 
classical  myths  in  mediaeval  and  modern  legend.  The 
story  of  Alexander  and  the  flower-maidens,  for  instance, 
which  was  a  favourite  with  the  troubadours,  and  was 
subsequently  popularised  by  Lamprecht,  and  later 
by  Uhland,  was  presumably  founded  on  a  legend 
current  in  ancient  Greece.  The  story  goes  that  irf  a 
certain  wood,  when  spring  came,  numbers  of  enormous 
flower  buds  appeared  out  of  the  ground,  from  each  of 
which,  as  it  opened,  there  leapt  forth  a  beautiful  maiden. 
Their  robes  were  a  part  of  their  growth,  and  in  colour 
they  were  just  like  their  flowers,  red  and  white.  They 
played  and  danced  in  the  shade,  and  their  singing 
rivalled  the  birds'.  All  past  heartaches  were  wiped 
away,  and  a  life  of  joy  and  abundance  seemed  to  open 
to  him  who  saw  them.  But  it  was  death  for  a  maiden 
to  leave  her  shady  retreat  and  encounter  the  scorching 
sun.  When  summer  was  past,  and  the  flowers  withered 
and  the  birds  were  silent,  the  beautiful  creatures  died. 
Alexander  and  his  knights,  coming  upon  this  magical 
wood,  mated  with  the  flower-maidens,  and  for  more 
than  three  months  lived  in  perfect  happiness,  till  one 
by  one  the  flowers  faded,  one  by  one  the  nymphs  died, 
and  the  king  and  his  companions  had  sorrowfully  to 
resume  their  travels.1 

Legends  of  this  sort  no  doubt  provided  Lucian 
with  the  motive  for  that  "  true  history  "  of  his,  wherein 
he  tells  of  the  wonderful  vines  growing  on  the  far  side 
of  a  certain  river  that  ran  wine  instead  of  water. 

1  Mannhardt  II.  p.  I. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  61 

These  vines  below  had  a  very  thick  stem,  but  above 
bore  maidens'  bodies  of  perfect  form.  Bunches  of 
grapes  grew  from  their  finger-tips,  and  vine  leaves  and 
grapes  formed  their  hair.  They  gave  the  travellers 
a .  friendly  greeting,  and  bade  them  welcome,  most 
speaking  Greek,  others  Lydian  or  Indian.  Whoever 
accepted  their  kisses  felt  a  sudden  drunken  bewilder- 
ment. They  shrieked  aloud  with  pain  when  one 
attempted  to  pluck  their  grapes.  Two  of  the  travellers 
who  surrendered  themselves  to  their  embraces  could 
not  get  free  again,  but  took  root  and  budded  forth  vine 
leaves.1 

The  above,  of  course,  was  intended  as  a  literary 
parody,  but  stories,  not  a  whit  less  wonderful,  are  found 
in  the  folk-lore  of  many  modern  countries,  and  are  no 
doubt  recited  and  received  in  good  faith.  There  is  a 
modern  Greek  legend,  for  instance,  of  a  childless  wife, 
to  whom  Heaven,  in  answer  to  her  prayer  for  children, 
sent  a  golden  laurel  berry.  Despising  the  gift  she 
threw  it  away.  From  it  there  grew  a  laurel-tree  with 
golden  sprays.  A  prince,  following  the  chase,  was  so 
struck  by  its  beauty  that  he  ordered  his  dinner  to  be 
prepared  beneath  it.  In  the  absence  of  the  cook  the 
tree  opened  and  a  fair  maiden  stepped  forth,  and  after 
strewing  a  handful  of  salt  over  his  food,  withdrew  to 
the  tree,  which  immediately  reinclosed  her.  The 
following  day  the  prince  again  found  his  dinner  spoilt, 
and  on  the  third  day  he  determined  to  keep  watch. 
The  maid  came  forth  and  was  captured  by  the  prince 
before  she  could  regain  her  tree.  After  a  time  she 
escaped,  and  coming  back  to  the  tree  called  upon  it 
to  open  and  receive  her.  But  it  remained  closed,  and 
she  was  obliged  to  return  to  her  prince,  with  whom, 

1  Lucian,   Verae  HistoHae,  lib.  i. 


62  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

after  various  mischances,  she  lived  happily  for  ever 
after.1 

The  Czekhs  have  a  similar  story  of  a  nymph  who 
roamed  the  forest  by  day,  but  at  night  invariably  re- 
turned to  her  willow.  She  married  a  mortal  and  bore 
him  a  child.  One  day  the  willow  was  cut  down  and 
the  nymph  died.  A  cradle  fashioned  out  of  its  wood 
had  the  power  of  lulling  her  child  to  sleep,  and  when 
he  grew  up  he  was  able  to  hold  converse  with  his 
mother  by  means  of  a  pipe  formed  from  the  twigs 
which  grew  about  the  stump.2 

That  the  soul  of  the  nymph  was  thought  actually  to 
inhabit  the  tree  is  further  proved  by  the  belief  current 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  myth,  that  blood  would 
flow  when  the  tree  was  injured.  It  was  firmly  held  in 
primitive  times  that  the  blood  was  the  very  life,  the 
soul  of  an  animal,  and  hence  in  primitive  ritual  it  was 
the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  that  was  offered  to  the  god. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  some  cases  wine — "the 
blood  of  the  grape  "-—and  the  juices  of  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, i.e.  the  vehicle  of  the  plant-soul,  were  used  as 
substitutes  for  blood.3  In  a  later  chapter  we  shall  see 
that  herbs  and  flowers  were  fabled  to  grow  from  the 
blood  of  the  dead  and  so  to  re-embody  his  spirit,  and 
it  will  be  remembered  how  Virgil  makes  the  cornel 
and  myrtle  which  grew  upon  the  grave  of  Polydorus  at 
once  bleed  and  speak  when  torn  up  by  the  hand  of 
Aeneas.4  So  Ovid,  recounting  a  similar  occurrence  in 
the  case  of  the  dryads'  oak,  sacrilegiously  felled  by 
Eresicthon,  was  probably  only  giving  a  poetic  version 
of  a  familiar  belief: — 


1  W.  R.  S.  Ralston,    Contemporary  3  Robertson     Smith,     op.     cit.     pp. 

Review,  vol.  xxxi.  p.  521.  126,  213,  461. 

2  Ibid.  vol.  xxxi.  p.  525.  4  Aeneid,  iii.  27-34. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  63 

He  it  was 

Whose  impious  axe  mid  Ceres'  sacred  grove 
Dared  violate  her  immemorial  shades. 
Huge  with  the  growth  of  ages  in  its  midst 
An  ancient  oak  there  stood,  itself  a  grove, 
.With  votive  tablets  hung  and  grateful  gifts 
For  vows  accomplished.      Underneath  its  shade 
The  dryads  wove  their  festal  dance. 

Eresicthon,  in  spite  of  warnings,  refused  to  stay  his 
hand. 

The  trembling  tree  sent  forth  an  audible  groan  ! 
From  its  pale  leaves  and  acorns  died  the  green, 
Dark  oozing  sweat  from  every  branch  distilled, 
And  as  the  scoffer  smote  it,  crimson-red 
Gushed  from  the  wounded  bark  the  sap,  as  streams 
When  at  the  altar  falls  some  mighty  bull 
The  life-blood  from  his  neck. 

Then  from  its  heart 

Issued  a  voice,  "Thou  strikest  in  this  trunk 
A  nymph  whom  Ceres  loves,  and  for  the  deed 
Dearly  shalt  pay.     With  my  last  voice  thy  doom 
I  prophesy,  and  in  thy  imminent  fate 
Find  solace  for  my  own." x 

Mannhardt  quotes  several  mediaeval  and  modern 
instances  of  the  belief  in  bleeding  trees.2  And 
stones  of  punishment  incurred  for  destroying  a  spirit- 
inhabited  tree  are  not  uncommon  in  folk-lore.  There 
is  a  German  legend  of  an  old  crone  who  attempted 
to  uproot  the  trunk  of  an  ancient  fir-tree.  In  the 
midst  of  her  labours  a  sudden  weakness  fell  upon 
her,  insomuch  that  she  was  scarcely  able  to  walk. 
While  endeavouring  to  crawl  home  she  met  a 
mysterious  stranger,  who,  hearing  her  story,  at  once 
pronounced  that  in  her  attempts  to  uproot  the  tree 
she  had  wounded  an  elf  inhabiting  it.  If  the  elf 

1  Metamorphoses,  viii.  741,  774,  translated  by  Henry  King  (London,  1871). 
2  Mannhardt  I.  pp.  34  et  seq. 


64  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

recovered,  he  said,  so  would  she  ;  if  not,  she  would 
die.  As  the  old  woman  perished  that  -  self-  same 
night  we  are  left  to  infer  that  the  elf  died  also. 
From  India  comes  a  similar  recital.  While  felling 
a  tree  the  youthful  Satyavant  broke  out  into  a 
profuse  sweat,  and  overcome  with  sudden  weakness, 
fainted  and  died  upon  the  spot :  he  had  mortally 
wounded  the  indwelling  spirit. 

Such  stories  have  no  doubt  arisen  from  the  dread 
inspired  by  wood -spirits  amongst  all  people  who 
believe  in  them.  In  short,  the  wild  inhabitants  of 
the  woods  have  always  retained  some  of  the  awe 
with  which  their  forerunners,  the  demons,  were  re- 
garded. Often  they  are  credited  with  quite  a  wanton 
vindictiveness.  A  Bengal  folk-tale  tells  of  a  certain 
banian-tree  haunted  by  spirits  who  had  a  habit  of 
wringing  the  necks  of  all  who  ventured  to  approach 
the  tree  by  night.1  In  another  Indian  story  a  tree 
that  grew  beside  a  Brahman's  house  was  inhabited 
by  a  sankchinni,  a  female  spirit  of  white  complexion, 
who  one  day  seized  the  Brahman's  wife  and  thrust 
her  into  a  hole  in  the  tree.2  Sometimes  the  tree- 
spirit  will  be  wicked  and  foolish  enough  to  enter 
into  a  human  being,  and  then  the  exorcist's  services 
are  called  in.  The  presence  of  the  spirit  is  easily 
discovered.  The  exorcist  has  only  to  set  fire  to  a 
piece  of  turmeric  root,  it  being  of  common  know- 
ledge that  no  spirit  can  endure  the  smell  of  burning 
turmeric. 

The  Shanars  of  India  believe  that  disembodied 
spirits  haunt  the  earth,  dwelling  in  trees  and  taking 
especial  delight  in  dark  forests  and  solitary  places.3 
When  a  Burman  starts  upon  a  journey  he  hangs  a 

1  Folkard,  op.  tit.  p.  79.  2  Ibid.  p.  79.  3  Ibid.  p.  79. 


111  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  65 

branch  of  plantains  or  a  spray  of  the  sacred  Eugenia 
on  the  pole  of  his  buffalo  cart,  to  conciliate  any  spirit 
upon  whom  he  may  be  unfortunate  enough  to  intrude. 
The  hunter  following  his  lonely  quest  in  the  forest 
will  deposit  some  rice  and  a  little  bundle  of  leaves 
at  the  foot  of  any  more  than  usually  majestic  tree, 
hoping  thereby  to  propitiate  the  nat  or  spirit  dwelling 
therein.1 

Something  of  the  same  fear  is  felt  by  the  peasants 
for  the  fairies,  elves,  pixies,  and  all  the  tribe  of  little 
people  familiar  to  European  folk-lore.  These,  too,  are 
all  more  or  less  associated  with  trees,  being  supposed 
to  dwell  either  amongst  the  branches  or  in  the  hollow 
trunks.  German  elves  have  a  partiality  for  the  oak 
and  elder,  and  the  holes  in  the  trunks  are  the  door- 
ways by  which  they  pass  in  and  out.  A  similar  idea 
exists  amongst  the  Hindus.  Though,  as  a  rule,  these 
forest-elves  bear  a  good  character,  they  are  not  to  be 
lightly  offended,  or  more  will  be  heard  of  it.  Hence 
prudent  country-folk  will  never  injure  trees  inhabited 
by  fairies,  for  when  aggrieved  they  have  ample  means 
of  avenging  themselves  by  inflicting  some  malady  or 
causing  some  ill-luck. 

Even  in  England,  especially  in  Devon  and  Corn- 
wall, there  still  exist  people  who  believe  that  oaks  are 
inhabited  by  elves — 

Fairy  elves,  whose  midnight  revels 
By  a  forest  side  or  fountain 
Some  belated  peasant  sees. 

And  it  is  not  yet  quite  an  obsolete  custom  to  turn  the 
coat  for  luck  when  passing  through  elf-haunted  groves. 
It  was  on  St.  John's  eve  that  the  fairies  held  their 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  79. 
F 


66  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

special  revels,  and  in  old  days  many  a  timorous  hand 
might  be  found  attaching  to  his  doorway  branches  of 
St.  John's  wort,  gathered  at  midnight  on  St.  John's 
eve,  to  protect  his  dwelling  from  an  invasion  of 
elves.  Similarly  the  peasants  living  near  Mount 
Etna  never  sleep  beneath  trees  on  St.  John's  eve, 
lest  the  spirits  who  then  issue  freely  from  their  leafy 
dwelling-places  should  enter  into  the  sleeper.1 

But  it  is  in  Central  and  North  Europe,  in  the 
Tyrol  and  the  Vosges,  in  the  German  forests,  in 
Russia,  Scandinavia,  and  Finland,  that  the  belief  in 
wood -spirits  is  most  deeply  rooted  and  persistent. 
Mannhardt,  who  has  diligently  collected  an  enormous 
mass  of  evidence  on  the  subject,  states  that  traditions 
concerning  the  wild  people  of  the  woods  are  current 
in  all  the  more  wooded  countries  of  Europe.  He 
sees  in  these  traditions  an  amalgamation  of  the  idea 
of  tree-spirits  with  that  of  wind-spirits,  and  rejects  the 
hypothesis  that  they  arose  out  of  remembrances  of 
savage  half-bestial  aborigines  who  took  to  the  woods 
on  the  advance  of  more  civilised  races.2  He  thus 
summarises  the  character  of  the  wild  people  of 
Germany,  Russia,  and  Scandinavia.  They  are  often 
of  gigantic  proportions,  dwell  in  woods  or  mountains, 
and  originally  were  no  doubt  closely  connected  with 
the  spirits  of  trees,  their  knowledge  of  "simples" 
and  remedies  for  sick  cattle  connecting  them  with 
the  spirits  of  vegetation.  From  head  to  foot  they 
are  clothed  in  moss,  or  covered  with  rough  shaggy 
hair,  their  long  locks  floating  behind  them  in  the 
wind.  Occasionally  they  assume  an  animal  form. 
They  announce  their  presence  in  the  wind  and 
tempest.  The  male  spirits  carry  as  weapons  up- 

1  Folkard,  op,  cit.  p.  83.  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  146. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  67 

rooted  pines  or  other  trees,  and  in  their  rights  with 
each  other  use  tree  trunks  and  pieces  of  rock.  They 
are  almost  invariably  of  a  wanton  disposition.1 

Of  all  the  various  spirits  of  the  woods,  the  moss- 
woman  of  Central  Germany  appears  to  be  the  most 
definite  example  of  a  tree-spirit.  As  with  the  Greek 
dryad,  her  life  is  bound  up  with  that  of  a  tree.2  The 
moss -women  bear  different  names  and  somewhat 
different  characters  in  different  localities,  but  the 
following  description  by  the  author  of  The  Fairy 

Family  represents  the  common  tradition  : — 

.^ 

"A  moss-woman,"  the  haymakers  cry 

And  over  the  fields  in  terror  they  fly, 

She  is  loosely  clad  from  neck  to  foot 

In  a  mantle  of  moss  from  the  maple's  root, 

And  like  lichen  gray  on  its  stem  that  grows 

Is  the  hair  that  over  her  mantle  flows. 

Her  skin  like  the  maple-rind  is  hard, 

Brown  and  ridgy  and  furrowed  and  scarred ; 

And  each  feature  flat  like  the  bark  we  see, 

When  a  bough  has  been  lopped  from  the  bole  of  a  tree, 

When  the  newer  bark  has  crept  healingly  round 

And  laps  o'er  the  edge  of  the  open  wound ; 

Her  knotty,  root-like  feet  are  bare, 

And  her  height  is  an  ell  from  heel  to  hair. 

Sometimes,  however,  the  moss -women  and  their 
relatives  the  wood  -  maidens  are  more  friendly  to 
man,  and  will  help  him  industriously  in  the  harvest- 
field  ;  they  have  even  been  known  to  enter  his  service 
and  bring  prosperity  to  all  his  undertakings. 

The  wild  women  of  Tyrol,  known  locally  as 
Wild-fanggen,  are  much  more  terrifying  individuals. 
Gigantic  in  stature,  their  whole  body  is  covered  with 
hair  and  bristles,  and  their  face  distorted  with  a  mouth 
that  stretches  from  ear  to  ear.  They  live  together  in 

1   Mannhardt  II.  p.  39.  2  Ibid.  I.  p.  75. 


68  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

the  woods,  with  which  their  lives  are  bound  up.  If 
their  special  wood  is  destroyed  they  disappear ;  if  the 
tree  from  which  a  fangga  takes  her  name  dies  or  is 
felled,  she  passes  out  of  existence.1 

The  peasants  in  the  Swiss  Canton  of  the  Grisons, 
which  by  the  way  has  a  "  wild-man  "  for  its  heraldic 
device,  believe  in  wood-spirits  of  great  strength  and 
agility,  who  are  skilled  in  weather-lore  and  the  recovery 
of  strayed  cattle.2  The  female  spirits,  some  of  whom 
have  been  known  to  marry  mortals,  are  clothed  in 
skins ;  but  the  males,  who  are  hairy,  content  them- 
selves with  a  crown  of  oak  leaves.  They  are  some- 
times helpful  to  men,  but  more  often  mischievous, 
having  a  propensity  for  stealing  the  milk  and  carrying 
off  the  children  of  the  peasants. 

The  white  and  green  ladies  of  Franche  Comte 
and  Neufchatel  belong  to  the  same  family,  their  special 
proclivity  being  to  entice  men  away,  to  drag  them 
through  brake  and  brier,  and  leave  them  stripped 
of  their  possessions.3  In  Neufchatel  there  is  a  rock, 
"  La  roche  de  la  Dame  Verte,"  which  young  men 
are  especially  warned  to  avoid  ;  and  in  the  Jura,  a 
wood  where  beneath  an  oak  the  green  ladies  are 
wont  to  light  a  fire,  and  may  be  heard  singing  and 
dancing  around  it.  The  peasants  when  they  see  the 
wild  flowers  and  the  young  corn  waving  in  the  wind, 
whisper  to  each  other  that  the  green  lady  is  passing 
over  them  with  her  companions. 

The  Swedish  conception  of  the  tree-spirit  is  very 
similar.  He  also  delights  to  lead  astray  those  who 
intrude  upon  his  forest  domain.  The  well-known 
tendency  of  man,  after  losing  himself,  to  wander 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  89.  2  Ibid.  I.  p.  93. 

3  Ibid.  I.  p.  117. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  69 

round  and  round  until  he  regains  his  starting-place,  is 
attributed  to  the  wood-spirit.  He  looks  like  a  man 
when  you  meet  him,  but  touch  him  and  he  shoots  to 
the  height  of  the  loftiest  tree.  You  cry  out  in  terror, 
and  he  laughs  "  Ha,  ha  !  "  Hunters  seek  the  friend- 
ship of  these  lords  of  the  forest,  for  he  who  stands 
well  with  them  never  misses  his  aim.1 

The  wood-demon  of  the  Russians,  Ljeschi,  calls 
to  mind  both  classical  and  modern  traditions.  He  is 
of  human  form,  with  the  horns,  ears,  and  feet  of  a  goat, 
his  fingers  are  long  claws,  and  he  is  covered  with 
rough  hair,  often  of  a  green  colour.  He  can  assume 
many  forms,  and  vary  his  stature  at  will  ;  in  the  fields 
he  is  no  higher  than  the  grass,  in  the  woods  as  tall 
as  the  trees.  Sometimes  he  is  like  a  man,  clothed 
in  sheepskins,  and  often,  like  the  cyclops,  with  only 
one  eye.  Like  other  wood-demons,  he  announces  his 
presence  in  the  storm  and  the  wind.  He  springs  from 
tree  to  tree,  and  rocks  himself  in  the  branches, 
screeching  and  laughing,  neighing,  lowing,  and  barking. 
He  delights  to  mislead  the  traveller  and  plunge  him  in 
difficulties.  However  unfriendly  to  man,  Ljeschi  is  on 
good  terms  with  animals  ;  all  the  birds  and  beasts  of 
the  wood  are  under  his  protection,  and  the  migrations 
of  squirrels,  field-mice,  and  such  small  deer  are  carried 
out  under  his  guidance.  The  peasants  are  at  pains 
to  propitiate  him.  In  the  province  of  Olonitz  the 
shepherds  offer  him  a  cow  every  summer,  to  secure  his 
favour  for  the  herd  ;  elsewhere  the  hunter  gives  him 
the  first  thing  he  shoots,  leaving  it  for  him  in  an  oak- 
wood,  or  places  a  piece  of  bread  or  pancake  strewed 
with  salt  upon  a  tree  stump.  There  are  certain  ways  of 
conjuring  his  presence  and  his  aid  by  means  of  birch- 

1  Mannhardt  I.  pp.  126  et  seq. 


70  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

twigs,  or  by  uttering  a  given  formula  while  standing 
on  a  tree-stump,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  he  is 
thought  of  as  dwelling  in  these  vegetable  fragments.1 
The  Russians  also  believe  in  female  wood-spirits  of 
terrifying  appearance,  but  they  are  of  less  importance 
than  the  male. 

In  the  folk-lore  of  the  Finns  the  spirits  of  the 
woods  bear  a  more  benign  character.  The  chief  of 
them,  "  Tapio,"  is  termed  "the  gracious  god  of  the 
woodlands,"  and  is  represented  as  very  tall  and 
slender,  with  a  long  brown  beard,  a  coat  of  tree  moss, 
and  a  high-crowned  hat  of  fir  leaves.  His  consort  is 
Mielikki,  "  the  honey  rich  mother  of  the  woodland," 
"  the  hostess  of  glen  and  forest."  The  neighbouring 
Esthonians  have  their  "  grass-mother  "  who,  besides 
presiding  over  the  home-field,  is  also  queen  of  the 
woods. 

It  is  not  perhaps  singular  to  find  that  the  tradi- 
tions with  regard  to  wood-spirits  current  amongst 
contiguous  peoples  should  exhibit  such  a  strong 
resemblance  to  each  other,  but  when  almost  exactly 
the  same  conceptions  are  met  with  in  such  distant 
parts  as  Japan  and  South  America,  we  can  only 
conclude  that  the  human  mind,  wherever  it  exists, 
is  similarly  constituted,  and,  granted  the  same  pheno- 
mena, falls  back  upon  the  same  ideas  to  explain  them. 

The  Tengus  of  Japanese  legend  have  many  of  the 
characteristic  marks  of  the  wood-spirit.  They  dwell 
in  the  topmost  branches  of  lofty  trees,  are  skilled  in 
the  language  and  lore  of  animals  and  plants,  and  are  a 
terror  to  untruthful  children.  They  have  the  body  of 
a  man,  the  head  of  a  hawk,  with  a  long  proboscis,  and 
powerful  claws  on  their  hands ;  on  their  feet,  also 

1  Mannhardt  I.  pp.  138  et  seq. 


in  WOOD-DEMONS  AND  TREE-SPIRITS  71 

provided  with  claws,  are  stilt-like  clogs  a  foot  high. 
They  are  hatched  from  eggs,  and  in  their  youth  have 
feathers  and  wings.1 

A  traveller  in  Peru  only  sixty  years  ago  found  the 
tradition  of  a  living  wood-ghost,  who  dwelt  in  the 
darkest  part  of  the  forest,  the  haunt  of  night-birds,  and 
issued  forth  to  decoy  the  Indians  to  their  destruction.2 
The  idea  of  a  wild  man  of  the  woods  also  exists  in 
Brazil.  The  Indians  call  him  Curupira,  and  attribute 
to  his  agency  all  such  forest  sounds  as  they  cannot 
understand.3 

Some  of  the  foregoing  traditions  present  a  glimpse 
of  the  transition  towards  a  later  and  more  highly 
developed  conception,  in  which  the  many  spirits  once 
believed  in  become  generalised  into  a  single  "  spirit 
of  vegetation."  It  is  not  indeed  contended  that  this 
belief  is  necessarily  destructive  of  the  earlier.  Indeed 
it  is  possible  that  in  the  loosely  working  mind  of  the 
peasant  the  two  conceptions  may  exist  side  by  side. 
The  many  interesting  ceremonies  and  observances 
which  arose  out  of  this  generalised  conception  will  be 
dealt  with  in  a  later  chapter. 

1  F.     Kinder,      Old  -  World  Japan  3  H.   W.  Bates,    The  Naturalist  on 
(London,  1895),  P-  I37-                                the   Amazon    (London,    1863),    vol.   i. 

2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  143.  p.  73. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    TREE    IN    ITS    RELATION    TO    HUMAN    LIFE 

HAVING  dealt  with  the  Tree  in  its  connection  on  the 
one  hand  with  gods,  and  on  the  other  with  spirits  of 
more  equivocal  attributes,  we  have  now  to  consider 
a  series  of  myths  and  traditions  wherein  it  was 
regarded  as  entering  into  a  still  more  intimate  relation- 
ship with  man.  Sometimes  it  was  represented  as  the 
source  from  which  the  human  race  originally  sprang, 
sometimes,  conversely,  as  the  object  into  which  the 
soul  might  retreat  after  death,  or  into  which  an 
individual  might  be  transmuted,  body  and  soul,  by 
some  miraculous  agency.  In  other  cases  the  life  of  a 
particular  tree  was  held  to  be  bound  up  with  that  of  an 
individual  or  a  community,  and  lastly,  in  a  still  larger 
conception,  the  tree  came  to  be  very  widely  regarded 
as  the  embodiment  of  the  spirit  of  fertility,  the  especial 
patron  of  the  field  and  flock. 

To  the  modern  mind,  which  claims  to  have  de- 
ciphered Nature's  scattered  hieroglyphs,  and  finds  a 
genealogical  document  even  in  the  evanescent  wrinkles 
on  a  baby's  foot,  the  idea  of  man  taking  origin  from  a 
tree  will  seem  in  the  highest  degree  fantastic,  but  to 
the  primitive  intelligence  it  probably  presented  no 
greater  difficulty  than  the  extraction  of  the  new  baby 


CH.  iv   THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE    73 

from  the  parsley  bed  does  to  the  modern  child.  The 
early  inquirer  may  well  have  found  in  it  the  most 
natural  answer  to  the  eternal  riddle,  "  Whence  came 
our  first  parents  ?  "  the  most  plausible  solution  to  the 
strange  problem  of  man's  separate  existence  upon  the 
globe,  supplying  the  necessary  link  between  him  and 
the  great  mother-earth,  which  supported  and  fed  him 
while  alive,  and  received  him  again  into  her  bosom 
when  dead.  Speculation  apart,  however,  the  solution 
would  appear  to  have  commended  itself  to  many 
different  inquirers,  for  the  belief  that  the  human  race 
took  its  first  origin  from  trees  is  met  with  in  the 
mythology  of  the  most  widely  separated  races. 

Thus  we  read  in  the  Eddas  that  when  heaven  and 
earth  had  been  made,  Odin  and  his  brothers  walking 
by  the  sea -shore  came  upon  two  trees.  These  they 
changed  into  human  beings,  male  and  female.  The 
first  brother  gave  them  soul  and  life ;  the  second 
endowed  them  with  wit  and  will  to  move ;  the  third 
added  face,  speech,  sight,  and  hearing.  They 
clothed  them  also  and  chose  their  names,  Ask  for  the 
man's  and  Embla  for  the  woman's.  And  then  they 
sent  them  forth  to  be  the  parents  of  the  human , 


race.1 


Again,  according  to  the  Iranian  account  of  the 
creation  the  first  human  couple,  Maschia  and 
Maschiana,  issued  from  the  ground  in  the  form  of  a 
rhubarb  plant  (the  Rheum  ribes],  which  was  at  first 
single,  but  in  process  of  time  became  divided  into  two.2 
Ormuzd  imparted  to  each  a  human  soul,  and  they 
became  the  parents  of  mankind. 

In  the  corresponding  legend  current  amongst  the 

1   The    Prose    or     Younger    Edda,       holm,  1842),  p.  10. 
translated   by  G.   W.    Dasent   (Stock-  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  7. 


74  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

Sioux  of  the  Upper  Missouri1  one  seems  to  catch  an 
echo  from  the  Garden  of  Eden.  Here  the  original 
parents,  like  the  trees  from  which  they  developed,  at 
first  stood  firmly  fixed  to  the  earth,  until  a  monster 
snake  gnawed  away  the  roots  and  gave  them  independ- 
ent motion,  just  as  in  Paradise  the  serpent  destroyed 
the  harmony  and  mutual  trust  which  united  Adam 
and  Eve. 

The  classical  nations  possessed  a  similar  tradition. 
According  to  Hesychius  it  was  believed  by  the  Greeks 
that  the  human  race  was  the  fruit  of  the  ash,  and 
Hesiod  relates  that  it  was  from  the  trunks  of  ash-trees 
that  Zeus  created  the  third  or  bronze  race  of  men.2 
The  oak  was  particularised  as  the  favoured  tree  in 
another  tradition.  "  Whence  art  thou?"  inquires 
Penelope  of  the  disguised  Ulysses,  "  for  thou  are  not 
sprung  of  oak  or  rock,  as  old  tales  tell."  Virgil,  too, 
speaks  of 

Nymphs,  and  fauns,  and  savage  men,  who  took 
Their  birth  from  trunks  of  trees  and  stubborn  oak.4 

The  Damaras  of  South  Africa  believe  that  the 
universal  progenitor  was  a  tree,  out  of  which  came 
Damaras,  Bushmen,  oxen  and  zebras,  and  everything 
else  that  lives.5 

In  other  legends  human  beings  are  represented  as 
arising  from  the  tree  as  its  fruit.  The  first  book  of 
the  Mahdbhdrata  tells  of  an  enormous  Indian  fig-tree 
from  whose  branches  hung  little  devotees  in  human 
form  ;  and  an  Italian  traveller  of  the  fourteenth 
century  was  assured  by  the  natives  of  Malabar  that 

1  Catlin,    Letters,     etc.,    on     North  4  Aeneid,  viii.  315. 

American  Indians,  vol.  ii.  p.  169.  5  F.   Gallon,   Narrative  of  an  Ex- 

2  Works  and  Days,  v.  143.  plorer,  etc.  (London,  1853),  p.  188. 

3  Odyssey,  xix.  162. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      75 

\ 

they  knew  of  trees,  which  instead  of  fruit  bore  pigmy 
men  and  women.  So  long  as  the  wind  blew  they 
remained  fresh  and  healthy,  but  when  it  dropped  they 
became  withered  and  dry.1  A  somewhat  similar  tra- 
dition was  familiar  to  the  Arab  geographers,  who  tell 
of  a  talking  tree  growing  at  the  easternmost  point  of 
the  habitable  world,  which  bore  young  women  on  its 
branches  in  place  of  fruit.2  And  even  to  the  present 
day  folk -tales  of  Saxony  and  Thuringia  speak  of 
children  as  " growing  on  the  tree." 

In  another  class  of  origin-myths  individual  births  " 
are  represented  as  taking  place  directly  from  a  tree. 
Adonis  came  forth  at  the  stroke  of  a  sword  from  the 
tree  into  which  his  mother,  the  guilty  Myrrha,  had 
been  transformed  in  answer  to  her  prayers. 3  The 
Phrygian  Attis,  according  to  one  version,  was  fathered 
by  an  almond -tree;  while,  according  to  another,  his 
body  was  confined  by  Cybele  in  a  pine-tree,  from 
which  on  the  return  of  spring  he  was  born  again.4 
The  Khatties  of  Central  India  claim  to  be  descended 
from  a  certain  Khat,  ''begotten  of  wood,"  who,  at  the 
prayer  of  Kama,  an  illegitimate  brother  of  the  five 
sons  of  Pandu  (heroes  of  the  Mahdbhdrata),  sprang 
from  the  staff  he  had  fashioned  from  the  branch 
of  a  tree  to  assist  him  against  his  legitimate  kins- 
men.5 

The  above  examples  prove  how  widely  the  concep-  x 
tion  prevailed  that   human  beings  or  man-like  spirits 
might  owe  their  first  origin  to  the  tree.      In   a  later 
stage  these  crude    myths   were    rationalised   in   three 
directions.       In    one    the    tree    came   to    be,    not    the 


1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  117.  3  Apollod.  iii.  14,  3. 

2  Alex.      v.      Humboldt,     Exawen  4  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  142. 
Critique,  vol.  ,i.  p.  52.  5  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  116. 


J 


76  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

_^ 

source,  but  the  scene  of  a  miraculous  birth;  in  another 
its  supposed  connection  with  a  human  being  was  ex- 
plained by  a  metamorphosis  legend  ;  and,  thirdly,  the 
tree  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  symbol  and  minister 
of  fecundity. 

Many  of  the  gods  of  Greece  were  born  or  brought 
up,  according  to  tradition,  at  the  foot  of  some  tree, 
whence  Botticher  argues  that  their  worship  was 
founded  on  a  pre-existing  tree-cult.  Rhea  gave  birth 
to  Zeus  beneath  a  poplar  in  Crete,  and  the  ruins  of  her 
temple  in  an  adjoining  cypress  grove  were  shown  even 
up  to  the  Augustan  age.1  The  people  of  Tanagra 
asserted  that  the  young  Hermes  was  reared  amongst 
them  under  a  purslane-tree  (andrachnos),  the  remains 
of  which  were  for  long  treasured  in  the  temple  of  the 
god  as  a  sacred  souvenir  of  the  institution  of  his 
worship.2  Hera  was  born  and  brought  up  under  a 
willow  in  Samos,  described  by  Pausanias,  who  saw 
it  still  in  leaf,  as  the  most  ancient  of  the  sacred  trees 
known  to  the  Greeks.3  Leto  gave  birth  to  Apollo  and 
Artemis  in  the  island  of  Delos  while  clasping  two 
trees,  by  some  authorities  particularised  as  an  olive 
and  a  palm,  by  others,  under  the  idea  that  Apollo 
must  have  been  born  at  the  foot  of  his  own  tree,  as 
two  laurels.4  Romulus  and  Remus  were  found  under 
the  Ficus  rwninalis  by  the  Tiber, .  and  •  in  later  days 
were  worshipped  in  the  Comitium  beneath  a  sapling 
from  that  tree.  The  same  idea  is  met. with  in  the 
mythology  of  other  nations.  Vishnu  was  born  beneath 
the  pillared  shade  of  the  banian  ;  Buddha  was  born 
and  died  under  a  sal-tree. 

The  converse  of  these  origin  myths  is  represented 

1  Diodor.  v.  66.  3  Ibid.  vii.  4,  4  ;  viii.  23,  4. 

2  Pausanias,  ix.  22,  2.  4  Servius  ad  Virgil.  Aeneid,  iii.  91. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE       77 

in  the  numerous  legends  of  metamorphosis  and  trans- 
migration. The  well  -  known  story  of  Apollo  and 
Daphne  seems  to  supply  an  instance  of  the  way  in 
which  the  metamorphosis  story  arose  to  explain  a  more 
primitive  connection,  the  meaning  of  which  had  been 
lost.  It  is  an  established  fact  that  the  laurel  was  held 
sacred  in  Greece  as  connected  with  earth  -  oracles 
before  the  worship  of  Apollo  was  introduced.  A 
sacred  laurel  grew  by  the  prophetic  cleft  at  Delphi  in 
the  days  when  the  earth-goddess,  Gaia,  still  presided 
over  the  oracle,  and  according  to  tradition  the  god- 
dess' daughter,  Daphne,  a  mountain  nymph,  was 
priestess  under  her.1  The  story  which  explains  the 
transference  of  the  .  oracular  power  from  Gaia  to 
Apollo  tells  how  Daphne,  fleeing  before  the  god, 
entreats  her  mother,  Earth,  to  save  her  ;  the  ground 
opens  to  receive  her,  and  in  her  place  a  laurel  appears. 
Apollo,  balked  of  his  love,  cries :  "If  thou  may'st 
not  be  my  wife,  thou  shalt  for  ever  be  my  tree,"  and 
henceforward  he  makes  the  laurel  his  sanctuary,  and 
crowns  his  head  and  his  lyre  with  its  leaves.  Thus  he 
steps  into  her  mother's  place,  and  the  laws  of  Zeus— 
the  old  earth-oracles  under  a  new  name — are  pro- 
claimed through  him. 

The  story  is  one  of  the  many  folk-tales  concerning 
the  conversion  of  mortals  into  trees  which  Ovid  has 
so  gracefully  "elaborated  in  his  Metamorphoses,  and 
which  assume  a  new  importance  now  that  we  can  trace 
them  back  into  that  old  world  when  tree  and  man,  and 
indeed  all  living  things,  were  held  to  be  so  near  akin. 
How  far  they  owed  their  origin  to  the  desire  to  find  a 
new  sanction  for  the  traditional  tree-worship  by  invest- 
ing it  with  a  human  interest,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

1  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  338. 


78  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

It  is  sufficient  for  us  that  they  demonstrate  the  survival 
of  very  ancient  modes  of  thought  amongst  races  who 
had  otherwise  reached  a  high  degree  of  civilisation. 
They  were  amongst  the  miracles  of  classical  antiquity, 
and  like  other  miracles,  if  they  prove  nothing  else, 
they  at  least  afford  invaluable  evidence  as  to  the  state 
of  mental  culture  amongst  those  who  found  them 
credible. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  metamorphosis 
legends  concerns  the  fate  of  the  three  daughters  of 
the  Sun  and  Clyrnene,  who  were  so  heart-broken  at 
the  tragic  fajte  of  their  brother  Phaeton  that  they  were 
changed  into  poplars  by  the  banks  of  the  stream  into 
which  he  had  been  hurled, — the  Eridanus  or  Po.  The 
tears  they  shed  were  preserved  in  the  form  of  amber  :— 

As  she  bent 

To  kneel,  Phaethusa,  eldest  born,  her  feet 
Felt  stiffen,  and  Lampetie,  at  her  cry 
Starting,  took  sudden  root,  and  strove  in  vain 
For  motion  to  her  aid.     The  third,  her  hair  ' 
In  anguish  tearing,  tore  off  leaves  !  And  now 
Their  legs  grow  fixed  as  trunks,  their  arms  as  boughs 
Extend,  and  upward  round  them  creeps  a  bark 
That  gradual  folds  the  form  entire,  save  yet 
The  head  and  mouth,  that  to  their  mother  shrieks 
For  help.     What  help  is  hers  to  give  ?     Now  here, 
Now  there  she  rushes,  frantic,  kissing  this 
Or  that  while  yet  she  can,  and  strives  to  rend 
Their  bodies  from  the  clasping  bark,  and  tears 
The  fresh  leaves  from  their  sprouting  heads,  and  sees, 
Aghast,  red  drops  as  from  some  wound  distil. 
And  "Ah,  forbear!"  the  sufferer  shrieks;  "forbear, 
O  mother  dear !  our  bodies  in  these  trees 
Alone  are  rent  !     Farewell  ! "     And  o'er  the  words, 
Scarce-uttered,  closed  the  bark,  and  all  was  still. 

But  yet  they  weep ;  and  in  the  sun  their  tears 
To  amber  harden,  by  the  clear  stream  caught 
And  borne,  the  gaud  and  grace  of  Latian  maids.1 

1  Metamorphoses,  ii.  346-366,  translated  by  Henry  King  (London,  1871). 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE       79 

The  story  of  Baucis  and  Philemon — the  worthy 
peasants  who  so  hospitably  entertained  the  gods,  Zeus 
and  Hermes,  disguised  as  travellers,  that  their  cottage 
was  changed  into  a  temple  and  they  themselves  into 
its  priest  and  priestess  —  is  more  familiar.  Their 
prayer  that  neither  should  witness  the  death  of  the 
other  was  fulfilled  by  the  gods,  by  means  of  a  device 
familiar  enough  to  the  folk-lore  of  the  time  : — 

As  one  morn  upon  the  hallowed  steps, 
Bowed  now  with  years,  they  stood,  and  to  a  knot 
Of  wondering  hearers  told  the  Temple's  tale, 
Surprised  each  saw  the  other's  figure  change 
And  sprout  with  sudden  verdure  :  and,  as  round 
Their  forms  the  rapid  foliage  spread,  while  yet 
They  could,  one  mutual  fond  "  Farewell "  they  took, 
One  kiss,  and  o'er  their  faces  closed  the  bark, 
And  both  in  trees  were  hidden  !     Still  the  boughs 
That  interlacing  link  the  neighbour  trunks 
Tyana's  peasant  loves  to  show  : — the  tale 
Her  gravest  elders — men  not  like  to  lie, 
As  wherefore  should  they  lie  ? — with  serious  faith 
Attested  to  these  ears.     The  honoured  boughs 
Myself  have  seen  with  garlands  decked,  myself 
One  garland  added  more.1 

In  many  cases  metamorphosis  legends  were  at- 
tached to  particular  kinds  of  trees,  thereby  no  doubt 
reinforcing  the  reverence  and  affection  with  which 
they  were  regarded.  The  Greek  name  for  the  almond 
tree,  "  Phylla,"  recalled  the  fate  of  Phyllis,  the  beautiful 
Thracian,  who  hanged  herself  in  despair  when  she 
thought  Demophoon  had  deserted  her,  and  was 
changed  by  the  gods  into  one  of  these  trees.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  truant  lover  returned,  heard  the  sorrow- 
ful tidings,  visited  the  tree,  and  embraced  it  with 
tears.  Then  suddenly  its  branches,  which  till  then 

1  Metamorphoses,  viii.  711-724.  The       a  feast  given  to  Theseus  by  Achelous, 
story  is  told  by  Lelex  of  Troezene  at       the  river-god. 


8o  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

had  remained  bare,  burst  forth  into  blossom  and 
verdure,  as  if  to  show  how  joyfully  conscious  they 
were  of  the  beloved's  return.  Melus,  priest  of  Aphro- 
dite, filled  with  grief  at  the  death  of  his  foster-son 
Adonis,  hanged  himself,  and  was  changed  by  the  god- 
dess he  served  into  an  apple-tree,  from  which  time 
forward  the  apple  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  most 
acceptable  gift  that  a  lover  could  offer  at  her  shrine. 
Lotis,  a  beautiful  nymph,  pursued  by  Priapus,  threw 
herself  on  the  mercy  of  the  gods,  and  by  them  was 
changed  into  the  lotus-tree. 

The  pine-tree,  into  which  Cybele,  in  a  moment  of 
anger,  had  changed  her  lover  and  devotee,  Attis, 
owed  its  perennial  verdure  to  the  compassion  of  Zeus 
for  her  remorse.  The  pomegranate  was  connected  in 
tradition  with  a  certain  maid  whom  Dionysus  loved, 
and  the  crown-like  form  of  its  blossom  was  accounted 
for  by  the  story  that  the  god,  before  he  changed  her 
into  a  tree,  had  promised  her  that  she  should  one 
day  wear  a  crown.  The  frankincense -tree  owed  its 
virtue  to  the  nectar  and  ambrosia  scattered  by  Apollo 
on  the  tomb  of  Leucothea,  who  had  secured  his  love, 
and  in  consequence  had  been  buried  alive  at  the 
instance  of  her  rival,  Clytia.  The  tree  grew  from  her 
grave,  and  Clytia,  pining  away  in  turn  from  grief,  was 
changed  into  a  plant  whose  blossoms  were  destined 
henceforth,  like  our  sunflower,  perpetually  to  confront 
the  sun,  her  faithless  lover. 

The  vicarious  immortality  which  the  jealous  but 
faithful  Clytia  thus  secured  was  shared  by  other 
fabled  personages,  many  of  whom,  according  to  that 
poetical  sentiment  which  is  begotten  of  all  that  is 
gentle  and  beautiful  in  nature,  were  changed  into 
flowers.  The  idea  is  indeed  a  graceful  one.  For  a 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      81 

beautiful  youth  or  maiden,  dying  young  and  un- 
happy, no  better  recompense  than  such  a  flower- 
change  could  be  imagined  by  a  people,  full  indeed 
of  the  instinctive  craving  for  immortality,  but 
vague  in  their  assurance  of  a  life  beyond  the 
grave. 

The  nymphs  who,  hearing  of  the  sad  death  of  the 
beautiful  Narcissus,  hurried  to  perform  his  obsequies, 
found  that  he  had  been  changed  into  a  flower,  the  cup 
of  which  was  filled  with  the  tears  that  he  had  shed. 
"  Bid  daffodillies  fill  their  cups  with  tears,"  sings 
Milton,  using  the  old  English  name  for  the  narcissus. 
Rhodanthe,  the  universal  praise  of  whose  beauty  had 
aroused  the  jealous  anger  of  Artemis,  was  changed  by 
Apollo  into  the  rose.  The  pipe  of  Pan  was  fashioned 
from  the  reeds  into  which  the  nymph,  Syrinx,  had  been 
transformed  by  her  sister  nymphs  in  their  determina- 
tion to  rescue  her  from  the  god's  unwelcome  over- 
tures. 

There  are  many  instances  in  classical  mythology 
wherein  flowers  were  believed  to  have  arisen  from  the 
blood,  i.e.  the  very  life,  of  dying  persons.  The  violet 
sprang  from  the  blood  of  Attis  when  Cybele  changed 
him  into  a  pine-tree.  From  the  blood  of  Hyacin- 
thus,  killed  in  anger  by  Zephyrus,  Apollo  caused  the 
hyacinth  to  grow.  Acis,  crushed  to  death  by  Poly- 
phemus, was  changed  into  a  stream,  but  from  his 
blood  there  sprang  the  flowering  rush.  According  to 
the  Egyptians  the  vine  arose  from  the  blood  of  the 
Titans. 

In  other  cases  tear-drops  were,  so  to  speak,  the 
seed  of  the  miracle.  The  anemone  grew  from 
the  tears  that  Aphrodite  shed  at  the  death  of 
Adonis  : — 

G 


82  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

Woe,  woe  for  Cytherea,  he  hath  perished,  the  lovely  Adonis. 
A  tear  the  Paphian  sheds  for  each  blood-drop  of  Adonis, 
And  tears  and  blood  on  the  earth  are  turned  to  flowers. 
The  blood  brings  forth  the  rose ;  the  tears,  the  wind-flower ; 
Woe,  woe  for  Cytherea,  he  hath  perished,  the  lovely  Adonis !  " 1 

Shakespeare,  it  will  be  remembered,  gives  to  the 
anemone  the  magical  power  of  producing  love/2 

The  legendary  lore  of  the  East  contains  traditions 
similar  to  those  above  mentioned,  of  which  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  cite  the  following  : — The  Burmese  believe 
that  the  Canna  Indica  or  Indian  shot  sprang  from  the 
sacred  blood  of  the  Buddha.  His  evil-minded  brother- 
in-law,  incensed  at  not  being  allowed  to  hold  a  separate 
assembly  of  his  own,  rolled  down  a  rock  upon  the 
teacher  from  a  lofty  hill.  A  fragment  bruised  the 
Buddha's  toe,  and  drew  from  it  a  few  drops  of  blood, 
from  which  the  sacred  plant  arose.3 

In  another  class  of  legends,  more  characteristic  of 
mediaeval  than  of  classical  mythology,  the  soul  of  the 
dead  person  was  believed  to  pass  into  a  tree.  They 
are,  in  fact,  cases  rather  of  metempsychosis  than  of 
metamorphosis.  A  legend  current  in  Cornwall  tells 
how,  after  the  loss  of  her  lover,  Iseult  died  broken- 
hearted, and  was  buried  in  the  same  church  with 
Tristram,  but  by  the  king's  decree  at  some  distance 
from  him.  Soon  ivy  sprang  from  either  grave,  and 
each  branch  grew  and  grew  until  it  met  its  fellow  at 
the  crown  of  the  vaulted  roof,  and  there  clasped  it  and 
clung  to  it  as  only  ivy  can.4  In  another  version  the 
plants  that  sprang  from  the  graves  of  the  lovers 
were  a  rose  and  a  vine.  The  same  idea  is  met  with  in 
the  familiar  ballad  of  Fair  Margaret  and  Sweet  William. 

1  Bion,  Idyl.  i.  63.  3  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  268. 

2  Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream,   Act  4  Ibid.  p.  389. 
ii.  Sc.  2. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      83 

Margaret  was  buried  in  the  lower  chancel, 

And  William  in  the  higher ; 
Out  of  her  breast  there  sprang  a  rose, 

And  out  of  his  a  brier. 
They  grew  till  they  grew  into  the  church  top, 

And  then  they  could  grow  no  higher ; 
And  there  they  tyed  in  a  true  lover's  knot, 

Which  made  all  the  people  admire.1 

A  story  is  told  in  Japan  of  a  faithful  couple  who, 
after  enjoying  long  years  of  happiness,  died  at  last  at 
the  same  moment ;  their  spirits  withdrew  into  a  tall 
pine-tree  of  great  age,  which  a  god  had  once  planted 
as  he  passed  that  way.  On  moonlight  nights  the 
lovers  may  be  seen  raking  together  the  pine-needles 
under  the  tree,  which  to  this  day  is  known  as  the 
Pine  of  the  Lovers.2 

A  certain  Chinese  king  had  a  secretary,  Hanpang, 
for  whose  young  and  beautiful  wife  he  conceived  a 
violent  passion.  Failing  in  his  designs  upon  her,  the 
king  threw  Hanpang  into  prison,  where  he  shortly 
died  of  grief.  His  wife,  to  escape  the  royal  suit,  threw 
herself  from  a  lofty  terrace,  having  entreated  as  a  last 
favour  that  she  might  be  buried  beside  her  husband. 
The  king  in  his  anger  ordered  otherwise.  But  that 
same  night  a  cedar  sprang  from  each  grave,  and  in 
ten  days  they  had  become  so  tall  and  vigorous  in  their 
growth  that  they  were  able  to  interlace  both  branch 
and  root,  and  the  people  called  them  the  Trees  of 
Faithful  Love.3 

In  Germany  the  following  story  is  told  to  explain 
why  a  certain  blue  flower,  the  endive,  which  grows 
by  the  roadside,  is  called  the  "  Wegewarte  "  or  way- 
watcher.  A  maiden,  eagerly  anticipating  the  return 
of  her  lover  from  a  long  voyage,  visited  every  morning 

1  Percy's  Reliqiies.  2  Old- World  Japan,  p.  115. 

3  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  274. 


84  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

and  evening  the  spot  where  they  had  parted,  and 
anxiously  paced  the  road,  awaiting  his  coming.  At 
last,  worn  out  by  her  long  vigil,  she  sank  down  by  the 
wayside  and  expired.  On  the  spot  where  she  breathed 
her  last  the  flower  appeared.1 

There  is  a  Japanese  story  in  which  a  mother  is 
represented  as  hearing  her  dead  son's  voice  in  the 
sighing  of  a  sacred  willow  which  grew  above  his 
grave.2  Grimm  quotes  other  examples.3  In  the  song 
of  Roncesvalles,  a  blackthorn  grows  above  the  dead 
Saracens,  a  white  flower  above  the  dead  Christians. 
In  other  legends  white  lilies  grow  from  the  graves  of 
persons  unjustly  executed.  From  a  maiden's  grave 
grew  three  lilies  which  none  but  her  lover  might  pluck. 

In  all  these  legends  we  have  a  survival  of  very 
primitive  ideas  about  the  soul,  ideas  out  of  which 
subsequently  arose  the  formal  doctrine  of  transmigra- 
tion. The  immortality  of  the  soul  was  accepted,  but 
there  was  always  an  inclination  to  quarter  it  in  some 
new  living  thing.  The  instances  above  given,  in 
which  it  was  thought  to  pass  into  some  plant,  especi- 
ally concern  us,  as  illustrating  the  primitive  belief  that 
trees  and  shrubs  might  contain  a  spirit  in  human  form. 

A  further  derivative  of  the  assumed  kinship  between 
human  and  vegetable  life  is  the  conception  of  the  tree 
as  sympathetically  interwoven  with  the  life  and  fortunes 
of  an  individual,  a  family,  or  a  community.  "In  folk- 
tales the  life  of  a  person  is  sometimes  so  bound  up 
with  the  life  of  a  plant  that  the  withering  of  the  plant 
will  immediately  follow  or  be  followed  by  the  death  of 
the  person.  Among  the  M'Bengas  in  Western  Africa, 
about  the  Gaboon,  when  two  children  are  born  on  the 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  325.  2  Old-World  Japan,  p.  127. 

3  Op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  786. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RE  LA  TION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      85 

same  day  the  people  plant  two  trees  of  the  same  kind 
and  dance  round  them.  The  life  of  each  of  the 
children  is  believed  to  be  bound  up  with  the  life  of  one 
of  the  trees,  and  if  the  tree  dies  or  is  thrown  down 
they  are  sure  that  the  child  will  soon  die.  In  the 
Cameroons,  also,  the  life  of  a  person  is  believed  to  be 
sympathetically  bound  up  with  that  of  the  tree.  Some 
of  the  Papuans  unite  the  life  of  a  new-born  child  sym- 
pathetically with  that  of  a  tree,  by  driving  a  pebble  into 
the  bark  of  the  tree.  This  is  supposed  to  give  them 
complete  mastery  over  the  child's  life  ;  if  the  tree  is  cut 
down  the  child  will  die."1  According  to  the  Talmud, 
the  destruction  of  Bithar,  in  which  four  hundred  thou- 
sand Israelites  lost  their  lives,  originated  in  the  resent- 
ment of  one  of  its  inhabitants  at  the  wanton  destruction 
of  a  young  cedar-tree,  which,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  place,  he  had  planted  at  the  birth  of  his  child.2 

It  was  usual  amongst  the  Romans  to  plant  a  tree 
at  the  birth  of  a  son,  and  from  its  vigour  to  fore- 
cast the  prosperity  of  the  child.  It  is  related  in  the 
life  of  Virgil,  that  the  poplar  planted  at  his  birth 
flourished  exceedingly,  and  far  outstripped  all  its  con- 
temporaries. A  similar  superstition  has  persisted  even 
into  times  that  are  almost  contemporary.  Lord  Byron, 
for  all  his  scepticism,  had  the  idea  that  his  life  and 
prosperity  depended  on  the  fate  of  an  oak  which  he 
had  planted  when  he  first  visited  Newstead.3 

The  mystical  relationship  of  man  and  tree  is  further 
illustrated  in  an  old  German  belief  quoted  by  Mann- 
hardt,  that  a  sick  child  placed  in  a  hole  made  in  a  tree 
by  sawing  off  a  branch,  or  by  splitting  it  open  with  a 

1  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  328.  3  Moore's  Life  of  Lord  Byron,  vol. 

2  Selections  from  the  Talmud  (Lon-       i.  p.  101. 
don,  1889),  p.  318. 


86  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

_\vedge,  will  recover  as  soon  as  the  tree-wound  heals. 
Should  the  child  die  and  the  tree  survive,  the  human 
soul  will  inhabit  the  tree  for  the  rest  of  its  life.1 

The  family  tree  and  the  community  tree  were 
merely  extensions  of  this  conception.  The  heroic 
descendants  of  Pelops  regarded  the  plane-tree  as 
especially  sacred  to  them  and  bound  up  with  their 
fortunes,  and  in  later  times  we  find  families  taking 
their  names  from  trees.  Mannhardt  quotes  in  this 
connection  the  German  surnames  Linde,  Holunder, 
Kirschbaum,  Birnbaum,  etc.2 

But  more  important  than  the  family  tree  is  the 
community  tree.  In  many  an  old  German  village  there 
stood  a  tree,  often  a  May- tree,  which  the  villagers 
guarded  as  the  apple  of  their  eye.  It  was  looked 
upon  as  the  life-tree,  the  tutelary  genius,  the  second 
"  I  "  of  the  whole  community.  Devotions  were  paid 
to  it  and  gifts  offered  as  to  a  deity.3  The  ancient  fig- 
tree  in  the  Comitium  at  Rome,  already  alluded  to  as  a 
supposed  descendant  of  the  very  tree  under  which 
Romulus  and  Remus  were  found,  is  another  case  in 
point.4  It  was  held  to  be  closely  connected  with  the 
fortunes  of  the  city,  and  Tacitus  describes  the  terror 
of  the  Romans  when,  in  the  reign  of  Nero,  it  suddenly 
began  to  flag  and  wither,  and  their  relief  when,  upon 
the  Emperor's  death,  it  was  found  to  have  renewed  its 
vigour.5  Pliny  tells  of  two  myrtle -trees,  called  the 
Patrician  and  Plebeian,  which  grew  before  the  temple 
of  Quirinus  at  Rome.  As  sacred  to  Venus,  and  hence 
symbolical  of  union,  these  trees  were  held  to  represent 
the  amity  which  existed  between  the  two  orders.  At 


1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  32.  4  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.  lib.  xvi.  27. 

2  Ibid.  p.  53.  5  Tacitus,  Annal.  xiii.  58. 

3  Ibid.  p.  182. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      87 

first  they  had  grown  with  equal  vigour,  but  when  the 
patricians  began  to  encroach  upon  the  power  of  the 
plebs  their  tree  outgrew  the  other,  which  languished 
beneath  its  baleful  shadow.  After  the  Marsian  war, 
however,  from  which  date  the  power  of  the  Senate 
began  to  decline,  it  was  noticed  that  the  patrician  tree 
showed  signs  of  age,  while  the  plebeian  sprouted  forth 
with  new  vigour.1  Curiously  enough,  there  is,  or  was 
so  recently  as  1885,  an  old  tree  in  Jerusalem,  opposite 
Cook's  office,  belonging  to  an  old  family  and  protected 
by  the  Sultan's  firman,  which  the  Arabs  consider  will 
fall  when  the  Sultan's  rule  ends.  "It  lost  a  large 
limb  during  the  Turco- Russian  war,  and  is  now 
(1885)  in  a  decayed  state."2 

From  conceptions  such  as  these  the  transition  is 
easy    to    that    wider     view    which 
regarded   the   tree    as   the    material 
representative     of    the    mysterious 
feminine    reproductive    power,    the 
good  genius  of  general  prosperity. 
We  know  that  the  Semitic  nations 
worshipped  under  various  names  a 
great     mother  -  goddess,     the     pro-    FlG  24._Imperiai  coin 
genitrix  of  gods  and  men,  and  there      of  Myra  in  Lycia,  show- 

.  .  111  ing  tree-goddess. 

is    evidence    to   show  that   the  tree 

.  (Goblet  d'Alviella.) 

was  widely  venerated  as  her  divine 

symbol.    I  n  the  coins  of  H  eliopolis  ( Baalbek),  where  this 

great  deity  was  worshipped  under  the  name  of  Astarte, 

the  figure  of  the  goddess  under  the  peristyle  of  her 

temple  is  sometimes  replaced  by  a  pyramidal  cypress. 

In  a  coin  of  Myra,  in  Lycia,  the  bust  of  a  goddess  is      K 

represented   in  the  foliage   of  a  tree.     The  goddess, 

1  Pliny,  op.  cit.  lib.  xv.  36.  for  5th  January  1885. 

2  The  late  General  Gordon,  in  Times  3  Goblet  d'Alveilla,  op.  cit.  p.  142. 


88 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


who  is  of  the  veiled  archaic  type  and  wears  on  her 
head  the  calathus,  the  symbol  of  fertility,  is  identified 
by  Mr.  Farnell  with  Artemis  -Aphrodite,  "  who  is  here 
clearly  conceived  as  a  divinity  of  vegetation."  The 
Canaanites,  and  under  their  influence  the  Israelites, 
worshipped  Ashtaroth,  the  fruitful  goddess,  under  the 
symbol  of  an  ashera,  a  tree  or  pole, 
decked  with  fillets,  like  the  May-tree. 
An  ancient  Babylonian  cylinder  re- 
presents a  decorated  tree  with  a 
worshipper  beside  it,  who  in  the 
inscription  invokes  the  goddess  as 
her  servant.2  On  other  cylinders 
the  tree-symbol  sometimes  accom- 
panies and  sometimes  replaces  the 

%ure  of  Istar>  the  §r^  procreative 
goddess  more  or  less  related  to  the 
goddess  of  the  asherim? 

The  conception  of  the  tree  as  the  symbol  of  fertility 
seems  to  be  still  more  clearly  emphasised  in  the  Assyrian 
cylinders  and  bas-reliefs,  where  it  is  conventionally 
represented  as  a  date-palm  between  two  personages, 
who  approach  it  from  either  side  bearing  in  their 
hands  a  cone  similar  to  the  inflorescence  of  the  male 
date-palm.  Mr.  Tylor  suggests  that  these  personages, 
variously  represented  as  kings  or  priests,  genii  with 
wings  and  heads  of  eagles,  or  mythical  animals,  may 
represent  the  fertilising  winds  or  divinities,  whose  pro- 
creative  influence  was  typified  by  the  artificial  fecunda- 
tion of  the  palm,  a  procedure  which  is  necessary 
for  its  successful  culture,  and  which  we  know  from 
Herodotus  to  have  been  familiar  to  the  Babylon- 

1  Farnell,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  695.  2  J.  Menant,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  220. 

3  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  1  70  et  seq. 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELA  TION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      89 

ians.1  The  design  is  usually  surmounted  by  the  winged 
disc  representing  the  sun,  and  the  whole  is  not  improb- 
ably meant  to  symbolise  the  mystery  of  procreation,  in 
which  the  male  element  enshrined  in  the  sun,  and  the 
female  element  inhabiting  the  tree  are  appropriately 


FIG.  26. — The  sacred  tree  as  symbol  of  fertility. 
(From  an  Assyrian  bas-relief.     Perrot  et  Chipiez.) 

represented.  The  same  collocation  is  met  with  on  an 
altar  from  the  Palmyrene  now  in  Rome,  on  one  of 
the  faces  of  which  is  the  image  of  a  solar  god,  and  on 
the  other  the  figure  of  a  cypress  with  a  child  carrying 
a  ram  amidst  its  foliage.2  In  this  connection  it  may 
be  remembered  that  Apuleius,  wishing  to  paint  the 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  145  et  seq. 
2  Lajard,  op.  cit.  PI.  i. 


90  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

son  of  Venus  in  his  mother's  lap,  is  related  to  have 
depicted  him  in  the  midst  of  a  cypress-tree. 

The  above  facts  are  important  for  their  bearing  on 
the  conception  of  a  tree-inhabiting  spirit  of  vegetation 
or  generalised  tree-soul,  which,  as  Mannhardt  and 
Frazer  have  shown,  lies  at  the  root  of  many  otherwise 
inexplicable  observances  found  amongst  the  peasantry 
in  different  .countries  and  at  different  periods  of 
history.  These  customs  will  be  dealt  with  more 
fully  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  In  all  of  them  we  find 
a  tree,  or  the  branch  of  a  tree,  or  a  human  being  or 
puppet  dressed  to  represent  a  tree,  figuring  as  the 
symbol  or  representative  of  a  spirit  who  is  regarded 
as  more  or  less  friendly  to  man,  and  endowed  with 
the  power  of  assisting  his  material  prosperity.  In 
more  primitive  times  than  the  present  this  prosperity 
resolved  itself  into  a  question  of  fecundity,  and  the 
power  which  could  make  the  fields  to  bear,  the  flocks 
to  multiply,  and  women  to  give  increase,  naturally  held 
the  foremost  place  in  the  affections  of  the  people. 
The  rich  and  the  cultured  found  other  attributes  to 
worship  and  other  gods  to  personify  them,  but  the 
peasant  clung  to  the  observances  by  which  the  spirit 
of  fertility  was  propitiated.  Hence  the  tree,  long 
after  it  had  ceased  to  be  worshipped  as  the  home  of 
the  great  gods,  or  to  be  regarded  as  the  parent  of 
mankind,  still  held  a  firm  place  in  the  devotions  of  the 
people  as  the  embodiment  of  the  all-powerful  patron 
of  universal  fertility. 

Of  the  innumerable  observances  founded  on  this 
idea  the  following  may  be  taken  as  a  sample.  The 
sacred  chili  or  cedar  of  Gilgit,  on  the  north-western 
frontier  of  India,  was  held  to  have  the  power  of 
causing  the  herds  to  multiply  and  women  to  bear 


iv       THE  TREE  IN  ITS  RELATION  TO  HUMAN  LIFE      91 

children.  At  the  commencement  of  wheat-sowing 
three  chosen  unmarried  youths,  who  had  undergone 
purification  for  three  days,  started  for  the  mountains 
where  the  cedars  grew,  taking  with  them  wine,  oil,  and 
bread,  and  fruit  of  every  kind.  Having  found  a 
suitable  tree  they  sprinkled  the  oil  and  wine  on  it, 
while  they  ate  the  bread  and  fruit  as  a  sacrificial  feast. 
Then  they  cut  off  a  branch  and  brought  it  to  the 
village,  where  amid  general  rejoicing  it  was  placed  on 
a  large  stone  beside  running  water.  A  goat  was  then 
sacrificed  and  its  blood  poured  over  the  cedar  branch, 
while  the  villagers  danced  around  it.  The  goat's 
flesh  was  eaten,  and  every  man  went  to  his  house 
^  bearing  a  spray  of  cedar.  On  his  arrival  he  said  to 
his  wife,  "If  you  want  children  I  have  brought  them 
to  you ;  if  you  want  cattle  I  have  brought  them ; 
whatever  you  want,  I  have  it."1 

The  same  idea  is  no  doubt  to  be  traced  in  the 
form  of  survival,  in  the  custom  of  giving  a  branch  of 
laurel  to  a  bride  which  is  found,  according  to  Mann- 
hardt,  at  Carnac  in  Brittany  ; 2  in  the  introduction  of  a 
decorated  pine-bough  into  the  house  of  the  bride,  met 
with  in  Little  Russia,  as  well  as  in  the  ceremony  of 
"  carrying  the  May,"  adorned  with  lights,  before  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  in  Hanoverian  weddings.3 

The  day  of  these  observances  is  past,  but  under- 
lying them  there  was  a  vital  and  still  valid  truth. 
To  us  as  to  the  ancients  the  tree  is  still  the  patron 
of  fertility,  as  those  have  discovered  to  their  cost  who 
have  bared  a  country  of  its  forests.  To  us  as  to  them 
it  is  still  the  thing  of  all  things  living  that  is  endowed 
with  the  most  enduring  life,  the  most  persistent  vigour. 

1   Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  70.  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  222. 

3  Ibid.  p.  46. 


92  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP,  iv 

Generations  come  and  go,  but  the  tree  lives  on  and 
every  spring  puts  forth  new  leaves,  and  every  autumn 
bears  new  seed,  and  even  to  its  last  decrepitude  the 
leaves  are  as  green  and  the  seeds  as  full  of  life  as  in 
the  prime  of  its  youth.  What  changes  has  not  the 
oldest  tree  in  England  witnessed !  In  the  southern 
counties  there  is  an  ancient  way,  once  thronged  by 
travellers,  but  now  deserted  and  broken  in  its 
continuity ;  yet  to  this  day,  even  where  parks  and 
pastures  have  overlain  it,  its  course  may  still  be 
traced  by  the  yew-trees  planted  at  its  side  by  pilgrims 
journeying  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury, 
in  the  days  when  their  brothers  were  fighting  for  the 
White  Rose  or  the  Red. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE    TREE    AS    ORACLE 

AMONGST  the  innumerable  sources  from  which  the 
nations  of  antiquity  professed  to  derive  knowledge  of 
futurity  and  practical  guidance  in  the  affairs  of  life  the 
tree  held  a  very  prominent  place.  Tree-oracles  formed, 
indeed,  the  natural  corollary  of  tree-worship,  and  their 
number  and  popularity  provide  additional  testimony 
to  the  genuineness  and  extent  of  the  ancient  belief  that 
certain  trees  were  tenanted  by  a  supernatural  essence. 
For  it  was  as  "  animated  demoniac  beings,"  to  use 
Robertson  Smith's  phrase,  that  trees  possessed  oracular 
virtue.  It  was  the  god  dwelling  in  them  who  pro- 
duced the  mysterious  rustlings  and  movements  of  the 
branches,  from  which  the  responses  were  interpreted 
by  the  attendant  priests.  But  according  to  the  ancient 
view  the  tree  derived  a  further  title  to  its  oracular 
prestige  from  its  connection  by  means  of  its  roots 
with  the  under-world,  the  mysterious  abode  of  departed 
spirits,  in  whom  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  the  future 
were  supposed  to  be  vested.  Thus  the  special 
prophetic  power  attributed  to  the  variety  of  oak 
(probably  the  Q^tercus  esciilus)  which  grew  at  Dodona 
was  ascribed  by  later  writers  to  the  fact  that  its  roots 


94  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

pierced  the  earth  more  deeply  than  those  of  other 
trees,  reaching  down  even  to  Tartarus  (tantum  radice 
in  Tartara]}  It  was  from  this  under- world  that  Saul 
summoned  Samuel,  and  it  was  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
help  from  the  spirit  of  some  dead  hero  by  means  of  a 
dream,  that  men  were  wont  to  pass  the  night  at  his 
tomb  or  his  temple.  The  modern  Arabs  who  still 
worship  certam  sacred  trees,  as  the  place  where  angels 
or  jinni  descend,  believe  that  a  sick  man  who  sleeps 
under  such  a  tree  will  receive  counsel  in  a  dream  for 
the  restoration  of  his  health.2 

Of  organised  oracles  the  earliest  was  no  doubt  the 
earth  oracle,  and  the  part  played  in  the  ceremonial 
by  natural  fissures,  springs,  and  trees  probably  grew 
out  of  their  close  connection  with  the  earth.  The 
most  famous  oracle  of  antiquity,  that  of  Delphi,  was 
situated  at  the  opening  of  a  natural  cleft  in  the  rock, 
believed  to  be  at  the  very  centre  of  the  earth,  and  was 
originally  presided  over  by  the  great  earth -mother, 
Gaia,  the  subordinate  part  played  by  the  laurel  which 
once  grew  near  the  cleft  being  expressed  by  the  legend 
that  Daphne  was  the  daughter  and  priestess  of  Gaia.3 
The  procedure  at  another  famous  oracle,  that  of 
Trophonius  at  Lebadea,  near  Mount  Helicon  in 
Boeotia,  was  distinctly  modelled  on  the  idea  of  a 
descent  into  the  under-world,4  the  suppliant  obtaining 
v  his  answer  in  a  cave,  where  his  experiences  were  so 
terrible  that  he  never  smiled  again  ;  whence  it  came 
to  be  said  of  any  particularly  lugubrious  individual 
that  he  had  consulted  the  oracle  of  Trophonius.  A 
still  more  striking  illustration  of  the  antiquity  of  this 
conception  is  found  in  the  account  of  the  initiation  of 

1  Virgil,    Georg.    ii.    291  ;     Servius  3  Pausanias,  x.  5,  3. 

ad  Virgil.  Aeneid^  iv.  446.  4  Encyclop.  Brit.,  9th  edition,   vol. 

2  Robertson  Smith,  op.  dt.  p.  169.         xvii.  p.  808. 


v  THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  95 

an  augur  given  on  a  Babylonian  tablet  in  the  British 
Museum.  The  candidate  is  there  made  to  descend 
into  an  artificial  imitation  of  the  lower  world,  where  he 
beholds  "  the  altars  amidst  the  waters,  the  treasures 
of  Anu,  Bel,  and  Ea,  the  tablets  of  the  gods,  the 
delivering  of  the  oracle  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  the 
cedar-tree,  the  beloved  of  the  great  gods."  *  Here  the 
earth-oracle  and  the  tree-oracle  are  seen  in  very  early 
conjunction  ;  but  the  belief  in  the  divine  power  inherent 
in  the  tree  can  be  traced  still  farther  back,  for  in  a 
bilingual  text  of  much  earlier  date  we  read  of  "the 
cedar-tree,  the  tree  that  shatters  the  power  of  the 
incubus,  upon  whose  core  is  recorded  the  name  of  Ea," 
i.e.  the  god  of  wisdom.2 

The  idea  of  the  tree-oracle  was  familiar  to  other 
branches  of  the  Semitic  race,  and  is  expressed  in  their 
common  tradition  of  a  tree  of  knowledge.  Several 
allusions  to  oracular  trees  are  met  with  in  the  Old 
Testament.  That  Jehovah  should  speak  to  Moses 
out  of  the  burning-bush,  if  not  to  be  regarded  as  a 
case  in  point,  was  at  any  rate  quite  in  conformity 
with  surrounding  tradition,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  belief  in  trees  as  places  of  divine  revelation  was 
very  prevalent  in  Canaan.  The  famous  holy  tree  near 
Shechem,  called  the  tree  of  the  soothsayers  in  Judges 
ix.  37,  and  the  tree  or  trees  of  the  revealer  in  Genesis 
xii.  6  and  Deuteronomy  xi.  30,  must  have  been  the 
seat  of  a  Canaanite  tree -oracle.3  The  prophetess 
Deborah  gave  her  responses  under  a  palm  near 
Bethel,  which,  according  to  sacred  tradition,  marked 
the  grave  of  the  nurse  of  Rachel.  And  David,  when 
he  inquired  of  the  Lord  as  to  the  right  moment  for 

1   Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  241.  2  Ibid.  p.  240. 

3  Robertson  Smith,  op.  tit.  p.  179. 


96  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

attacking  the  Philistines,  received  the  signal  in  "the 
sound  of  a  going  in  the  tops  of  the  mulberry-trees."1 
The  ash£ra  or  artificial  tree  in  which  the  deity  was 
supposed  to  dwell  also  appears  to  have  been  used  by 
the  Canaanites  for  the  purposes  of  divination,  a  practice 
probably  alluded  to  in  the  rebuke  of  the  prophet, 
"  My  people  ask  counsel  at  their  stock,  and  their  staff 
declareth  unto  them.'M 

But  by  far  the  most  striking  instance  of  a  tree- 
oracle,  and  perhaps  one  may  even  say  the  most  signal 
vestige  of  the  primitive  tree-worship,  was  the  oracle  of 
the  Pelasgic  Zeus  at  Dodona  in  Epirus.  Here  in  a 
grove  of  oaks  there  was  a  very  ancient  tree,  believed 
to  be  the  actual  seat  of  the  deity,  whose  responses 
were  interpreted  from  the  rustling  of  its  branches,  from 
the  murmur  of  the  sacred  spring  which  welled  forth  at 
its  foot,  or  from  the  drawing  of  the  oracle  lots  kept  in 
an  urn  beneath  it.  The  origin  of  the  oracle  is  lost  in 
prehistoric  gloom  ;  probably  it  existed  earlier  than  the 
worship  of  Zeus  himself.  Homer  makes  Ulysses 
visit  it,3  and  Hesiod  states  that  Zeus  dwelt  there  in  the 
trunk  of  a  tree.4  Herodotus  affirms,  on  the  testimony 
both  of  the  priestesses  of  Dodona  and  of  the  Egyptian 
priests  at  Thebes,  that  the  oracle  was  introduced 
from  Egypt,  and  adds  that  the  manner  in  which 
oracles  were  delivered  at  Thebes  and  at  Dodona  was 
very  similar.  The  priests  at  Thebes  told  him  that 
two  women  employed  in  their  temple  had  been 
captured  by  Phoenicians,  and  sold  the  one  into  Libya, 
the  other  to  the  Greeks  ;  the  former  established  the 
oracle  of  Zeus  Ammon  in  the  Libyan  desert,  the  latter 
that  of  Dodona.  In  the  account  given  him  by  the 

1  2  Samuel  v.  24.  4  Scholiast  on  Sophocles,  Trachiniae 

2  Hosea  iv.  12  (R.  V.).  1169. 

3  Odyssey^  xiv.  327. 


v  THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  97 

Dodonaean  priestesses,  it  was  asserted  that  the  oracles 
were  founded  by  two  black  pigeons  from  Thebes.1 
,  We  know  from  other  sources  that  the 'oracle  of  Zeus- 
Ammon  was  vested  in  an  ancient  tree  (yepdvSpvov).2 
But  whatever  may  have  been  its  origin  there  is  no 
doubt  that  the  oracle  of  Dodona  had  a  long  and  active 
career,  continuing  for  close  upon  two  thousand  years. 
Silius  Italicus,  towards  the  end  of  the  first  century  A.D., 
reiterates  the  statement  of  Hesiod  that  the  deity  at 
Dodona  occupied  a  tree  ; 3  Pausanias  a  hundred  years 
later  found  the  tree  still  green  and  flourishing,4  and 
Philostratos  about  the  same  time  saw  it  adorned  with 
wreaths  and  sacred  fillets,  (l  because,  like  the  Delphic 
tripod,  it  gave  forth  oracles."  5  A  later  writer  states 
that  the  oracular  voices,  ceased  on  the  felling  of  the 
tree  by  a  certain  Illyrian  bandit,6  but  there  is  evidence 
that  the  tree  and  the  oracle  were  still  in  existence  in 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century  A.D.  These  ancient 
testimonies  to  the  importance  of  the  oracle  have  been 
marvellously  corroborated  by  the  discovery  in  the 
course  of  recent  excavations  of  a  large  number  of 
leaden  tablets  inscribed  with  the  questions  addressed 
to  the  god  by  his  votaries,  and  dating  from  400  B.C. 
onwards.7 

According  to  classical  mythology,  the  oracular 
virtue  of  the  famous  oak  of  Dodona  was  not  only 
transmitted  to  its  offshoots,  but  even  preserved  in  the 
dead  wood  after  its  separation  from  the  tree.  Ovid, 
in  relating  the  story  of  the  plague  of  Aegina,  tells  how 
Aeacus,  standing  beneath 

1  Herodotus,  ii.  52,  57.  6  Servius  ad  Virgil.  Aen.  iii.  466. 

""2  Clem.  Alex.,  Protrept.  ii.  n.  7  Encyclop.  Brit.,  9th  edition,  vol. 

3  Silius  Ital.  vi.  691.  xvii.  p.  809,      Cf.  also  Farnell,  op.  cit. 

4  Pausanias,  viii.  23,  4;  i.  17,  5.-  vol.  i.  p.  40. 

5  Philostrat.  Imag.  ii.  33. 

H 


98  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

A  branching  oak,  the  Sire's  own  tree,  from  seed 
Of  old  Dodona  sprung, 

calls  upon  Zeus  to  repeople  his  stricken  kingdom,  and 
fill  his  desolate  walls  anew  with  citizens  as  numerous 
as  the  ants  at  his  feet. 

Not  a  breath 

Was  stirring,  but  the  branches  shook,  the  leaves 
With  rustling  murmur  waved. 

Accepting  the  omen  he  kisses  the  sacred  tree,  falls 
asleep  beneath  it,  and  wakes  to  find  that  the  ants  have 
been  miraculously  changed  into  men,  the  famous 
Myrmidons.1  Again,  it  is  related  by  more  than  one 
author  that  when  the  good  ship  Argo  was  built, 
Athena  introduced  into  it  by  way  of  amulet  a  beam 
hewn  in  the  grove  of  Dodona,  which  in  the  subsequent 
voyage  constantly  gave  the  Argonauts  warning  and 
advice.2 

At  the  famous  oracle  of  Delphi  the  tree  played  as 
intrinsic,  if  not  so  predominant,  a  part  as  at  Dodona, 
its  function  being  shared  by  the  fissure  in  the  earth 
and  the  sacred  spring,  which  testify  to  the  chthonic 
origin  of  the  oracle,  whilst  the  use  of  the  sacred  tripod 
has  been  thought  to  connect  it  with  the  class  of  fire 
oracles.3  There  is  evidence  that  a  laurel -tree  grew 
beside  the  oracular  fissure  in  Gaia's  time,4  and,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  the  earliest  temple  of  Apollo  was  a 
hut  of  laurel  boughs  erected  by  the  god's  own  hands.5 
And  later  on,  when  the  original  tree  had  disappeared 
and  the  fissure  had  been  enclosed  in  the  Adytum,  the 
entrance  to  the  latter,  as  well  as  the  tripod  on  which 
the  Pythia  sat,  were  hidden  in  fresh  laurel  leaves 

1  Metam.  vii.  622-654  3  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  341. 

2  Apollod.     i.    9,     16;     PhilosUat.  4  Euripides,  Hecuba,  456. 
Imag.  ii.  15.                                                         5  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  344. 


THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  99 

whenever  the  oracle  was  given,  and  the  priestess 
having  chewed  laurel  leaves  and  crowned  herself  with 
a  wreath  of  the  sacred  plant,  waved  a  laurel  branch 
while  chanting  her  ecstatic  utterances.  Every  ninth 
year,  moreover,  a  bower  of  laurel  branches  was  erected 
in  the  forecourt  of  the  temple.  It  is  uncertain  how 
far  Apollo's  close  connection  with  the  laurel  may  have 
originated  from  Delphi,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  in 
later  times  his  oracular  function  was  inseparably 
bound  up  with  the  use  of  that  tree,  and  the  laurel 
became  the  recognised  instrument  of  prophecy  (per 
lauros  geomantis).  And  at  Delphi,  when  the  laurel 
trees  had  disappeared,  the  oracle  ceased,  for  the 
messenger  sent  by  the  Emperor  Julian  to  reinaugurate 
it  received  for  answer,  "Tell  the  king  that  the 
cunningly -built  chamber  has  fallen  to  the  ground  ; 
Apollo  no  longer  has  bower,  or  inspired  laurel,  or 
prophetic  spring  ;  vanished  is  the  talking  water."  * 

To  pass  briefly  over  other  examples  of  tree-oracle, 
in  Armenia  the  fire-priests  were  wont  to  interpret  the 
will  of  the  god  from  the  movements  observed  in  the 
branches  of  the  holy  plane-tree  at  Armavira.2  The 
Chaldaeo- Assyrians  read  the  future  in  the  rustling  of 
the  leaves  of  the  prophetic  trees.3  At  Nejran,  in 
Yemen,  the  Arabs  professed  to  obtain  oracles  from  the 
spirit  who  inhabited  a  sacred  date-palm.4 

In  the  Shah  Nameh,  Firdausi,  working  no  doubt 
upon  an  ancient  tradition,  tells  how  Sikander,  or 
Alexander  the  Great,  consulted  a  tree  -  oracle  in 
Persia.5  "  From  thence  he  proceeded  to  another  city, 

1  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  344.  4  Sir  W.    Ouseley,    Travels,   vol.  i. 

2  Moses    Choren,  Hist.    Armen.    i.       p.  369. 

15,  19.  5  The   ,  Shah      Nameh,      Chandos 

3  F.     Lenormant,     La    Divination       Classics,  p.  336. 
chez  ks  Chaldeens  (Paris,  1875),  P-  85- 


ioo  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

where  he  was  received  with  great  homage  by  the  most 
illustrious  of  the  nation.  He  inquired  of  them  if 
there  were  anything  wonderful  or  extraordinary  in 
their  country,  that  he  might  go  to  see  it,  and  they 
replied  that  there  were  two  trees  in  the  kingdom,  one 

a    male,    the    other    a    female,    from    which    a    voice 

•» 

proceeded.  The  male  tree  spoke  in  the  day  and  the 
female  tree  in  the  night,  and  whoever  had  a  wish  went 
thither  to  have  his  desires  accomplished.  Sikander 
immediately  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  approaching  it, 
he  hoped  in  his  heart  that  a  considerable  part  of  his 
life  still  remained  to  be  enjoyed.  When  he  came 
under  the  tree  a  terrible  sound  arose  and  rang  in  his 
ears,  and  he  asked  the  people  present  what  it  meant. 
The  attendant  priest  said  it  implied  that  fourteen 
years  of  his  life  still  remained.  Sikander  at  this 
interpretation  of  the  prophetic  sound  wept,  and  the 
burning  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks.  Again  he  asked, 
'  Shall  I  return  to  Rum  and  see  my  •  mother  and 
children  before  I  die  ? '  and  the  answer  was,  '  Thou 
wilt  die  at  Kashdn." 

Amongst  the  Romans  other  forms  of  augury 
appear  to  have  taken  the  place  of  the  old  tree-oracles 
and  reduced  them  to  comparative  insignificance.  The 
most  important  of  those  that  remained  was  the 
prophetic  ilex  grove  upon  the  Aventine  hill,  sacred  to 
Faunus  and  Picus.  Hither  the  applicant  came,  fasting 
and  meanly  clothed,  and  having  crowned  himself  with 
beech  leaves,  sacrificed  two  sheep  to  the  deities  of  the 
grove,  and  laying  himself  down  upon  their  pelts, 
awaited  the  counsel  of  the  gods  in  his  dream.1  There 
was  another  grove  oracle  of  Faunus  at  Tibur  by  the 
Albunean  spring,2  and  at. the  neighbouring  Preneste, 

1  Ovid,  Fasti,  iii.  294.  2  Ibid.  iv.  650  ;  Virgil,  Aeneid,  vii.  81. 


THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE 


where  the  oracle  of  Jupiter  was  held  in  great  repute, 
the  oracle  lots  were  fashioned  from  the  wood  of  his 
sacred  oak.1  At  the  more  sequestered  Tiora  Matiena 
the  tree-oracle  appears  to  have  dwindled  into  a  mere 
vestige,  the  responses  being  given  by  a  woodpecker 
perched  upon  an  oaken  column.2 

To  tree-omens,  as  distinguished  from  tree-oracles, 
the  Romans  attached  much  importance,  and  they 
possessed  several  treatises  dealing  with  such  portents. 
The  family  and  community  tree  described  in  the  last 
chapter  had  a  certain  oracular  character,  and  foretold  in 
its  own  fortunes  the  prosperity  or  adversity  of  those 
whom  it  represented.  The  withering  of  the  laurel 
grove  of  Augustus  was  held  to  portend  the  death  of 
Nero,  and  with  him  the  extinction  of  the  Augustan 
house  and  its  adopted  members  ;  the  fall  of  Vespasian's 
cypress  foretold  the  death  of  Domitian.  If  the  sacred 
tree  attached  to  a  sanctuary  were  uprooted  by  the 
wind,  it  was  a  clear  proof  that  the  deity  had  withdrawn 
his  protection,  and  unless  the  tree  upreared  itself  anew, 
his  worship  at  that  spot  was  discontinued.  The 
Sibylline  books  contained  explicit  instructions  with 
regard  to  these  eventualities  and  were  invariably 
consulted  in  every  such  case.  Innumerable  instances 
of  these  tree-omens  are  given  in  classical  literature.3 

The  legends  of  trees  which  spoke  intelligibly 
belong  rather  to  myth  than  to  history,  but  they  were 
quite  in  accordance  with  the  ancient  belief  that  any 
tree  which  contained  a  tree  -soul,  were  it  the  spirit  of 
a  god  or  only  that  of  a  dryad,  might  express  itself  in 
words.  Thus  the  spirits  inhabiting  the  three  trees 
of  the  Hesperides  gave  advice  to  the  wandering 

1  Cicero,  De  Divinat.  ii.  40.  ,2  Dion.  Halic.  i.  14. 

3  Botticher,  op.  cit.  chap.  xi. 


SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 


Argonauts.  Philostratus  relates  that  at  the  command 
of  Apollonius  a  tree  addressed  him  in  a  distinct  female 
voice.1  When  Rome  was  invaded  by  the  Gauls  a 
voice  from  out  of  the  grove  of  Vesta  warned  the 
Romans  to  repair  their  walls  or  their  city  would  fall.2 
And  after  the  battle  in  which  Brutus  and  Aruns 
Tarquinius  slew  each  other,  a  powerful  voice  from  the 
neighbouring  grove  of  Arsia  announced  that  the 
victory  lay  with  the  Romans.3  A  later  instance  is 
that  of  the  gharcad  tree  which  spoke  to  Moslim 
b.  'Ocba  in  a  dream,  and  designated  him  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  army  of  Yazid  against  Medina.4 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  responses 
at  Dodona  were  sometimes  interpreted  from  the  oracle 
lots  kept  in  an  urn  that  stood  upon  a  sacred  table 
beneath  the  tree,  and  the  same  form  of  divination 
was  also  apparently  in  use  at  Delphi,5  whilst  at 
Preneste  it  was  the  sole  method  employed.  Indeed 
this  outgrowth  of  the  tree-oracle  was  in  common  use 
throughout  the  ancient  world.  There  is  a  probable 
allusion  to  it  in  Ezekiel  xxi.  21.  The  Scythian 
soothsayers  were  wont  to  divine  by  the  help  of  a 
number  of  willow  rods,  which  they  placed  upon  the 
ground,  uttering  their  predictions  as  they  gathered 
them  up  one  by  one.  They  also  practised  divination 
by  means  of  the  bark  of  the  linden-tree.6  Amongst 
the  neighbouring  Alani,  in  Sarmatia,  women  foretold 
the  future  by  means  of  straight  rods  cut  with  secret' 
enchantments  at  certain  times  and  marked  very 
carefully.7  The  Germans  used  to  divine  by  means  of 
the  fragments  of  a  branch  cut  from  a  fruit-tree,  which 

1  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  164.  6  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  113,  note  22. 

2  Cicero,  De  Divinat.  i.  45.  6  Herodotus,  iv.  67. 

3  Dion.  Halic.  v.  16.  7  Ammian.  Marcell.  L.  31. 

4  Robertson  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  126. 


v  THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  103 

they  threw  on  to  a  white  cloth.1  The  omen  sticks  of 
the  Druids,  frequently  referred  to  in  the  Bardic  poems, 
were  probably  rods  cut  from  a  fruit-tree  and  marked 
with  mystical  emblems.2 

It  is  not  easy  to  define  the  exact  connection 
between  these  oracle-lots  and  that  strange  survival, 
the  divining-rod,  but  it  may  be  taken  for  certain  that 
the  belief  in  the  efficacy  of  the  latter  is  "a  superstition 
cognate  to  the  belief  in  sacred  trees,"3  and  that  the 
idea  underlying  both  the  oracle-lot  and  the  divining- 
rod  was  that  they  were  animated  by  an  indwelling 
spirit,  probably  by  the  spirit  of  the  tree  from  which 
they  were  cut.  We  know  from  Pliny  and  Pausanias 
that  the  earliest  images  of  the  gods  were  made  of 
wood,  and  that  the  Greeks,  Romans,  and  other  pre- 
Christian  nations  worshipped  stakes  or  peeled  rods 
of  wood,  painted,  or  dressed,  or  roughly  carved  in 
the  semblance  of  an  anthropomorphic  god,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  inhabited  by  a  divine  essence.  It  was 
probably  by  a  similar  mode  of  reasoning  that  the 
spear,  the  sceptre,  the  staff  of  the  general,  the 
standards  of  the  army,  the  herald's  wand,  the  rods 
of  the  flamens,  the  lituus  of  the  augur,  and  the 
truncheon  of  the  constable  came  to  be  symbolically 
representative  of  power  and  inviolability,  the  primitive 
assumption  being  that  they  retained  some  of  the 
divine  spirit  resident  in  the  tree  from  which  they 
were  cut.4  From  a  similar  parentage  sprang  the 
popular  custom  of  striking  men,  cattle,  and  plants 
with,  a  green  switch  (Lebensrute)  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  in  order  to  make  them  fruitful,  an 

1  Tacitus,  Germ.  x.  4  The    whole    subject    is   very  fully 

2  E.    Davies,    Celtic    Researches,    p.  treated    by    Botticher,    op.    cit.    chap. 
812  ;  British  Druids,  p.  43.  xvi. 

3  R.  Smith,  op.  cit.  p.  179,  note  5. 


104  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

observance  of  which  so  many  instances  'have  been 
collected  by  Mannhardt.  "It  was  the  tree-soul,  the 
spirit  of  vegetation,"  he  concludes,  "communicated  by 
means  of  this  switching,  which  drove  away  the  demons 
of  sickness  and  sterility  and  evoked  fruitfulness  and 
health."1-  The  divining-rod  is,  if  one  may  say  so, 
first  cousin  to  the  "life-rood."  Each  represents  and 
embodies  a  different  function  of  the  supernatural — the 
one  its  procreative,  the  other  its  prophetic  attribute. 
The  divining-rod  is  the  meagre  survival  of  the  once 
renowned  tree-oracle. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  in  this  positive  age  there 
should  exist  people  calling  themselves  educated,  who 
believe  that  a  stick  cut  from  a  hazel  or  thorn-bush 
may  in  the  hands  of  a  specially  endowed  person 
possess  a  magical  power  of  revealing  the  secrets  of 
the  earth.  But  so  it  is.  There  are  in  this  country 
at  the  present  hour  some  half-dozen  professional 
experts,  who  claim  the  faculty  of  discovering  un- 
suspected springs  of  water  by  means  of  the  divining- 
rod,  and  furnish  well-attested  instances  of  their  success. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  discuss  the  credibility  of  their 
assertions  or  to  formulate  a  theory  to  account  for  their 
success.  The  subject  of  the  divining-rod  concerns  us 
only  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  vestige — a  poor  and  atrophied 
vestige — of  the  magic  eloquence  once  associated  with 
the  sacred  tree.  It  is  impossible  to  say  when  the  use 
of  the  divining-rod  first  originated.  It  is  mentioned 
in  the  Vedas,  and  is  well  known  to  have  flourished 
amongst  the  Chaldaeans  and  Egyptians.  But  in  those 
early  days  the  function  of  the  magical  rod  was  not 
restricted,  as  it  was  later  and  is  now,  to  the  search 
for  water  or  buried  treasure.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  303. 


v  THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  .       105 

found  many  uses  for  it.  Cicero  speaks  of  providing 
for  one's  wants,  qiiasi  virgutd  divind,  itt  aiunt.  It 
was  a  familiar  instrument  in  the  hands  of  the  British 
Druids,  and  is  still  largely  employed  in  China. 
Mediaeval  writers  speak  of  it  as  being  in  very 
common  use  among  the  miners  of  Germany.1 

At  all  times  and  in  all  places  the  act  of  cutting 
and  preparing  the  rod  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
ceremony.  It  had  to  be  severed  at  a  particular 
moment,  and  from  a  particular  kind  of  tree,  the  latter 
varying  according  to  the  country.  As  a  rule  a 
fruit-tree,  or  some  other  tree  that  was  useful  and 
beneficent  to  man,  was  chosen.  The  Chinese  prefer 
the  peach ;  the  Druids  made  choice  of  the  apple- 
tree.2  Elsewhere  the  hazel,  the  willow,  and  the  black- 
thorn have  been  selected,  and  the  last-named  is  still 
known  in  Germany  as  the  "  wishing-thorn,"  as  it  is 
the  tree  from  which  wishing-rods  were  cut.  The  time 
at  which  the  rod  was  cut  was  equally  important.  Eon 
centuries  the  Chinese  have  adhered  to  the  first  new 
moon  after  the  winter  solstice  as  the  most  favourable 
date  for  the  ceremony.  The  French  custom  was  to 
cut  it  on  Mercury's  day  (Wednesday)  at  the  planetary 
hour  of  Mercury.3  In  Sweden  divining-rods  of  mistletoe 
are  cut  on  midsummer  eve.4  Even  in  comparatively 
modern  times  believers  in  the  divining-rod  professed 
to  expect  more  of  a  rod  which  had  been  cut  between 
sunset  and  sunrise,  upon  some  holy  day  or  at  new 
moon,  from  a  branch  on  which  the  rising  sun  first  shone.5 

These  mystic  observances  smack  of  a  far-distant 
past,   and   the    modern  water-finder  appears   to   have 

1  De    Vallemont,    Physique    occulte       Gods,  vol.  i.  p.  53. 

(1696),  p.  10.  4  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  367. 

2  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  113.  5  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  114. 

3  John   O'Neill,    The  Night  of  the 


io6  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

discarded  them.  His  practice  is  to  cut  a  forked 
branch  about  eighteen  inches  in  length  from  any 
convenient  hazel  or  white-thorn  bush,  and  grasping 
the  prongs  very  firmly  between  the  thumb  and  two 
first  fingers  of  each  hand,  the  joint  being  held  down- 
wards, he  walks  over  the  ground  where  it  is  desired 
to  find  water.  If  he  approaches  a  hidden  spring,  the 
joint  will  begin  to  rise  against  his  will,  and  when  he 
has  reached  it,  will  make  a  complete  half  revolution, 
breaking  or  bending  the  twigs  held  in  his  hands,  until 
the  joint  is  uppermost.  The  depth  of  the  spring  is 
estimated  by  the  force  with  which  the  rod  is  repelled 
from  it.  The  mental  exhaustion  of  the  operator  after 
a  successful  operation  is  said  to  be  considerable.  In 
an  old  volume  of  the  Quarterly  Review  (No.  44)  an 
account  is  given  of  a  certain  Lady  Noel  who  was 
skilful  in  the  use  of  the  divining-rod.  She  used  a 
thin  forked  hazel-twig,  which  immediately  bent  when 
she  came  over  the  underground  spring,  its  motion  being 
more  or  less  rapid  as  she  approached  or  withdrew  from 
the  spot.  "  When  just  over  it  the  twig  turned  so  quick 
as  to  snap,  breaking  near  the  fingers,  which  by  press- 
ing it  were  indented  and  heated  and  almost  blistered. 
A  degree  of  agitation  was  also  visible  in  her  face." 

Many  of  the  superstitious  practices  that  still  sur- 
vive in  remote  villages  are  no  doubt  of  the  same 
ancestry  as  the  divining-rod.  In  the  valley  of  Lanzo 
in  Piedmont,  lovers  in  doubt  whether  to  marry  consult 
the  oracle  in  the  form  of  a  herb  called  concordia,  the 
root 'of  which  is  shaped  like  two  hands,  each  with  its 
five  fingers.  If  the  herb  they  find  has  the  hands  con- 
joined, the  omen  is  favourable ;  but  unfavourable  if 
the  hands  point  different  ways.1 

1  A.  de  Gubernatis,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  99. 


v  THE  TREE  AS  ORACLE  107 

The  following  naive  recital  is  quoted  in  Brand's 
antiquities  : — "  Last  Friday  was  Valentine's  day,  and 
the  night  before  I  got  five  bay-leaves,  and  pinned  four 
of  them  to  the  four  corners  of  my  pillow,  and  the  fifth 
to  the  middle  ;  and  then,  if  I  dreamt  of  my  sweetheart, 
Betty  said  we  should  be  married  before  the  year  was 
out."  This  belief  in  the  magical  power  of  certain 
leaves  is  enshrined  in  many  jingles,  still  found  in  the 
rustic  formulary,  such  as — 

The  even  ash-leaf  in  my  glove 
The  first  I  meet  shall  be  my  love ; 2 

or 

Find  even  ash  or  four-leaved  clover 

And  you'll  see  your  true  love  before  the  day's  over.3 

In  old  days  on  St.  Valentine's  eve  many  a  rustic 
maid  has  sprinkled  bay-leaves  with  rose-water  and 
laid  them  across  her  pillow,  and  then  lying  down  in  a 
clean  night-gown,  turned  -wrong  side  out,  has  softly 
recited— 

Good  Valentine,  be  kind  to  me, 

In  dreams  let  me  my  true  love  see ; 4 

or,  if  she  were  a  Staffordshire  lass,  she  probably 
preferred  St.  Thomas's  eve,  and  having  placed  a 
sprig  of  evergreen  under  her  pillow,  sighed— 

Good  St.  Thomas,  stand  by  my  bed 
And  tell  me  when  I  shall  be  wed.5 

To  those  who  are  new  to  the  subject  of  comparative 
mythology  these  doggrels  whispered  by  foolish  country 

1  J.     Brand,     Observations    on    the  4  J.   O.   Halliwell,  Popular  Rhymes 
Popular  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain  and  Niirsery   Tales  (1849),   pp.   219, 
(London,  1849),  vol.  i.  p.  58.  220. 

2  W.   Hone,  Year  Book  (1878),  p.  5  C.    H.    Poole,    Customs,   Legends, 
588.  and  Superstitions  of  Staffordshire,  p. 

3  W.    Henderson,  Folk-lore   of  the  74. 
Northern  Counties,  pp.  no,  in. 


io8  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP,  v 

girls  under  the  stress  of  a  natural  impulse  may  seem 
absurdly  irrelevant.  But  to  that  science  which  strives 
to  unravel  the  beliefs  and  ideas  of  long  dead  people, 
every  vestige,  every  survival  is  important.  The 
charms  above  mentioned  did  not  spring,  fully  matured, 
from  the  brain  of  some  peculiarly  inventive  dairy- 
maid. They  have  a  long,  long  pedigree,  and,  like  the 
zebra  stripe  which  will  sometimes  appear  on  a  pure- 
bred horse,  they  throw  us  back  to  an  age  when  man 
believed  that  the  world  was  controlled  by  spirits,  and 
that  he,  like  everything  else,  was  but  a  puppet  in 
their  hands. 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE    UNIVERSE-TREE 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  points  in  connection  with 
tree   myths   is   the  wide    distribution   of   the    concep- 
tion  of  the  cosmogonic   or   world-tree,  of  which   the 
Scandinavian  Yggdrasil  is  the  most  familiar  example. 
The  idea  is  met  with  amongst  the  ancient  Chaldaeans, 
the    Egyptians,   the    Persians,    the    Hindus,    and    the 
Aryan  races  of  Northern    Europe,  as  well   as  in  the 
mythology  of  China  and  Japan  ;  and  this  community  of 
tradition   has   been   regarded  by   some  authorities   as 
pointing  to  a  prehistoric    intercourse    between    these 
widely-separated  races,  if  not  to  their  common  origin.1 
But,  apart  from    the  fact   that  the  same   conception 
is    also    found    in    a   rudimentary   form    amongst    the 
aborigines  of   New   Zealand   and  America,    it   is   not 
difficult  to  imagine  that  it  may  have  occurred  separately 
to  more   than   one   inquirer.      In   short,   "  the  idea  of 
referring  to  the  form  of  a  tree  the  apparent  conforma- 
tion of  the  universe  is  one  of  the  most  natural  methods 
of  reasoning  which   can  occur  to  the  savage  mind."' 
The  moment  he  began  to  concern  himself  with  such 
questions,  the  primitive  thinker  must  have  asked  him- 
self why  the  heavenly  firmament,  with  its  sun  and  stars 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  tit.  p.  169.  2  Ibid.  p.  171. 


i  io  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

and  the  waters  above  it,  did  not  fall  to  earth  like 
everything  else  within  his  knowledge.  His  mind 
naturally  demanded  some  prop  or  support  to  antagonise 
what  in  his  experience  was  the  unrestricted  despotism  of 
geocentric  gravitation.  The  Egyptian  explained  the 
problem  by  representing  the  sky  as  the  star-spangled 
body  of  the  goddess  Nuit,  who  had  been  separated 
from  her  husband  Sibu,  the  earth,  by  the  efforts  of 
Shu.  In  the  mythology  of  the  Maoris,  Rangi,  the 
sky,  was  forcibly  separated  from  his  wife,  the  universal 
mother,  earth,  by  one  of  their  children,  Tane  Mahuta, 
father  of  forests,  who  planting  his  head  upon  the  earth, 
upheld  the  heavens  with  his  feet.1 

The  fact  that  the  celestial  bodies  were  observed  to 
revolve  around  a  fixed  point  rendered  it  a  necessity 
that  this  assumed  support  of  the  heaven  should  be 
of  the  nature  of  a  central  axis,  upholding  the  sky-roof 
as  the  pole  upholds  a  tent.  To  the  inhabitants  of 
mountainous  countries,  who  saw  the  clouds  resting 
upon  the  peaks,  the  idea  of  a  heaven -supporting 
mountain  no  doubt  presented  itself  as  the  most  reason- 
able solution.  Thus  Aristotle,  to  quote  Lord  Bacon, 
"  elegantly  expoundeth  the  ancient  fable  of  Atlas  (that 
stood  fixed  and  bare  up  the  heaven  from  falling)  to  be 
meant  of  the  poles  or  axle-tree  of  heaven."  To  plain- 
dwellers,  however,  the  tree  was  the  loftiest  object 
within  their  experience,  and  it  may  be  conjectured  that 
the  idea  of  a  central  world-supporting  tree  was  a  pro- 
duct of  the  lowlands.  In  some  cases  the  two  con- 
ceptions were  combined  and  the  world-tree  was  placed 
on  the  summit  of  a  world-mountain.  It  is  interesting, 
however,  to  note  that  the  earliest  known  version  of  a 
world-tree,  pure  and  simple,  comes  to  us  from  the  fertile 

1  Sir  G.  Grey,  Polynesian  Mythology  (London,  1855),  p.  i. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE  TREE  m 

alluvial  plain  on  the  borders  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
account,  contained  in  an  old  bilingual  hymn,  and  prob- 
ably of  Accadian  origin,  represents  the  tree  as  growing 
in  the  garden  of  Edin  or  Eden,  placed  by  Babylonian 
tradition  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Eridu,  a  city 
which  flourished  at  the  mouth  of  the  Euphrates 
between  3000  and  4000  B.C. 

In  Eridu  a  stalk  grew  overshadowing ;  in  a  holy  place  did  it  become 

green ; 

Its  roots  were  of  white  crystal,  which  stretched  towards  the  deep. 
(Before)  Ea  was  its  course  in  Eridu,  teeming  with  fertility ; 
Its  seat  was  the  (central  place  of  the  earth) ; 
Its  foliage  (?)  was  the  couch  of  Zikum  the  (primaeval)  mother. 
Into  the  heart  of  its  holy  house,  which  spread  its  shade  like  a  forest, 

hath  no  man  entered. 

(There  is  the  home)  of  the  mighty  mother  who  passes  across  the  sky. 
In  the  midst  of  it  was  Tammuz. 
There  is  the  shrine  of  the  two  (gods).1 

Of  this  glorified  tree  or  stem  it  is  to  be  observed 
that  it  grew  at  the  centre  of  the  earth  ;  that  its  roots 
pierced  down  into  the  abysmal  watery  deep,  where  the 
amphibious  Ea,  the  god  of  wisdom,  had  his  seat,  and 
whence  he  nourished  the  earth  with  springs  and 
streams  ;  that  its  foliage  supported  Zikum,  the  prim- 
ordial heavens,  and  overshadowed  the  earth,  which 
was  apparently  regarded  as  a  plane  placed  midway 
between  the  firmament  above  and  the  deep  below. 
The  stem  itself  was  the  home  of  Davkina,  consort  of 
Ea,  the  great  mother,  "the  lady  of  the  Earth,"  and  of 
her  son  Tammuz,  a  temple  too  sacred  for  mortals  to 
enter. 

Even  were  it  not  to  be  inferred  from  other  evidence, 
there  could  be  little  doubt  that  the  people  amongst 
whom  the  above  conception  arose  must  have  been 

1  A.  H.  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  238. 


112  THE  SACRED   TREE  CHAP. 

already  familiar  with  tree-worship.  The  mighty  stem, 
in  which  the  great  gods  dwelt,  was  but  a  poetical 
amplification  of  the  sacred,  spirit-inhabited  tree,  and 
arose  out  of  the  same  idealising  process  as  that  which 
gave  birth  to  the  nearly  related  tree  of  knowledge 
and  tree  of  life. 

Side  by  side  with  that  of  a  world-tree  the  conception 
of  a  world-mountain  is  also  met  with  in  the  primitive 
cosmogony  of  the  Chaldaeans,  but  while  the  former 
tradition  belonged  to  Sumir  or  Southern  Babylonia, 
the  latter  seems  to  have  prevailed  in  the  Northern 
Accad,  whose  inhabitants  had  once  been  mountain- 
dwellers.1  This  "mountain  of  the  world,"  " whose 
head  rivalled  the  heaven,"  which  had  the  pure  deep  for 
its  foundation  and  was  the  home  of  the  gods,  was 
placed  in  the  north,  and  its  worship  survived  in  that 
of  the  "illustrious  mounds"  of  the  Babylonian  plain, 
which  were  equally  regarded  as  the  visible  habitation 
of  divine  spirits.  Isaiah  represents  the  king  of 
Babylon  as  boasting,  "  I  will  ascend  into  heaven,  I 
will  exalt  my  throne  above  the  stars  of  God ;  and  I 
will  sit  upon  the  mount  of  congregation,  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  north."1  It  seems  clear  that  the 
prophet  is  alluding  to  the  myth  of  a  Chaldaean  Olympus, 
where  the  gods  held  their  assemblies.  In  one  of  the 
Babylonian  hymns  this  mountain  is  addressed  as,  "  O 
thou  who  givest  shade,  Lord  who  castest  thy  shadow 
over  the  land,  great  mount,"3  from  which  it  might 
appear  that  the  idea  of  the  world-mountain  was  not 
very  strictly  dissociated  from  that  of  a  world-tree. 

In  the  corresponding  cosmogony,  which  was  current 
five  thousand  years  later  amongst  the  Scandinavians, 

1  A.  H.  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  362.  2  Isaiah  xiv.  13. 

3  De  Gubernatis,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  45. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  113 

the  two  conceptions  were  unequivocally  combined. 
The  Norse  Yggdrasil,  in  spite  of  the  many  quaint 
symbolical  fancies  which  have  been  embroidered  on  to 
the  main  conception,  represents  such  a  remarkable 
amalgamation  of  ideas  originally  Oriental  that  it  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  it  can  have  had  a  totally 
independent  origin.  The  world-mountain,  the  world- 
tree  with  the  birds  in  its  branches,  and  the  connection 
of  the  latter  with  another  peculiarly  Eastern  idea,  that 
of  the  food  of  the  gods,  are  all  reproduced  in  the 
cosmogonic  traditions  of  the  Eddas,  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  they  formed  part  of  a  primitive  folk-lore 
common  to  the  different  races.  As  their  culture  grew 
the  Chaldaeans  gave  up  their  earlier  conception,  and 
came  to  regard  the  earth  as  a  gigantic  bowl  floating 
bottom  upwards  upon  the  deep,  but  to  the  Norse  poet 
the  world  still  remained  a  flat  disc  surrounded  by  a  river 
ocean,  and  limited  by  mountain  ranges.  In  its  centre 
Asgard,  the  mountain  of  the  gods,  was  pierced  by  a 
mighty  tree  trunk,  the  branches  of  which  overshadowed 
the  world  and  supported  the  sky,  the  stars,  and  the 
clouds,  whilst  its  roots  stretched  downwards  into  the 
primordial  abyss.  The  apples  stored  in  Valhal,  by 
eating  which  the  gods  preserved  their  youth,  closely 
correspond  to  the  amrita  or  soma  which,  as  we  shall 
see,  was  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  Eastern  conception  of 
the  world-tree. 

"  The  chief  and  most  holy  seat  of  the  gods,"  say 
the  Eddas,  "is  by  the  ash  Yggdrasil.  There  the 
gods  meet  in  council  every  day.  It  is  the  greatest 
and  best  of  all  trees,  its  branches  spread  over  all  the 
world  and  reach  above  heaven.  Three  roots  sustain 
the  tree  and  stand  wide  apart :  one  is  with  the  Asa  ; 
the  second  with  the  Frost-giants  ;  the  third  reaches 


ii4  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

into  Niflheim,  and  under  it  is  Hvergelmer,  where 
Nidhug  gnaws  the  root  from  below.  But  under  the 
second  root,  which  extends  to  the  Frost-giants,  is  the 
well  of  Mimer,  wherein  knowledge  and  wisdom  are 
concealed.  The  third  root  of  the  ash  is  in  heaven, 
and  beneath  it  is  the  most  sacred  fountain  of  Urd. 
Here  the  gods  have  their  doomstead.  The  Asa  ride 
thither  every  day  over  Bifrost,  which  is  also  called 
Asa-bridge.  There  stands  a  beautiful  hall  near  the 
fountain  beneath  the  ash.  Out  of  it  come  three  maids. 
These  maids  shape  the  lives  of  men  and  we  call  them 
the  Norns.  On  the  boughs  of  the  ash  sits  an  eagle, 
who  knows  many  things.  Between  his  eyes  sits  the 
hawk,  called  Vedfolner.  A  squirrel,  by  name  Ratatosk, 
springs  up  and  down  the  tree  and  bears  words  of  hate 
between  the  eagle  and  Nidhug.  Four  stags  leap 
about  in  the  branches  of  the  ash  and  bite  the  buds. 
The  Norns  that  dwell  by  the  fountain  of  Urd  every 
day  take  water  from  the  fountain,  and  clay  that  lies 
around  the  fountain,  and  sprinkle  therewith  the  ash,  in 
order  that  its  branches  may  not  wither  or  decay.  .  .  . 
In  Valhal  there  is  a  chest,  kept  by  Ithun,  in  which  are 
the  apples  that  the  gods  must  bite  when  they  grow  old, 
in  order  to  become  young  again."  l 

In  the  above  description  the  various  denizens  of 
the  tree  have  been  supposed  to  symbolise  natural 
phenomena.  The  stags  who  bite  the  buds  are  the 
four  cardinal  winds  ;  the  eagle  and  the  hawk  represent 
respectively  the  air  and  the  wind -still  ether;  the 
serpent  Nidhug  who  gnaws  the  root  in  the  subter- 
ranean abyss  symbolises  volcanic  forces,  and  the 
squirrel,  who  runs  up  and  down  the  tree,  hail  and 
other  atmospheric  phenomena. 

1   The  Prose  or  Younger  Edda,  translated  by  G.  W.  Dasent,  p.  16. 


VI 


THE  UNIVERSE-TREE 


A  similar  if  somewhat  less  detailed  symbolism  is 
met  with  in  both  the  Indian  and  Persian  traditions  of 
the  world-tree,  a  symbolism  which  often  obscures  and 
overshadows  its  cosmic  function.  In  both  countries 
the  mythical  tree  was  venerated  rather  as  a  tree 


FIG.  27. — Yggdrasil — the  Scandinavian  world-tree. 
(From  Finn  Magnusen's  Eddalaeren.) 

of  life,  the  source  of  the  immortalising  soma  or 
haoma,  than  as  the  supporter  of  the  universe.  The 
latter  function  was  not  indeed  quite  lost  sight  of,  for 
the  Kalpadruma  of  the  Vedas  was  a  cloud  -  tree  of 
colossal  size,  which  grew  on  a  steep  mountain,  and  by 
its  shadow  produced  day  and  night  before  the  creation 
of  the  sun  and  moon  ;  and  in  the  Rig-Veda  Brahma 


ii6  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

himself  is  described  as  the  vast  over-spreading  tree 
of  the  universe,  of  which  the  gods  are  the  branches. 
Similarly  in  Persian  legend,  near  the  haoma  -  tree 
stood  the  tree  of  all  seeds,  frequented  by  two  birds, 
one  of  which  when  he  settled  on  it  broke  off  a 
thousand  branches  and  caused  their  seeds  to  fall, 
while  the  other  carried  them  to  a  place  whence  they 
might  be  conveyed  to  the  earth  with  the  rain.  The 
same  idea,  even  to  the  two  birds,  recurs  in  the 
Indian  traditions  of  the  mystical  soma-tree,  which, 
besides  producing  the  immortalising  drink,  also  bore 
fruit  and  seed  of  every  kind.  It  was  from  this  tree 
that  the  immortals  shaped  the  heaven  and  the  earth  : 
it  grew  in  the  third  heaven,  overshadowing  it  with  its 
branches.  Beneath  it  sat  the  gods,  quaffing  the  precious 
soma,  whereby  they  preserved  their  immortality. 

Amongst  the  followers  of  Buddha  this  tradition 
of  a  supernatural  tree  underwent  a  further  process  of 
idealisation.  Their  fancy  described  it  as  -covered  with 
divine  flowers,  and  gleaming  with  every  kind  of  pre- 
cious stone.  To  its  smallest  leaf  it  was  formed  of 
gems.  It  grew  on  a  pure  and  level  sward,  resplendent 
in  colour  as  the  peacock's  neck.  It  received  the 
homage  of  the  gods.1  It  was  beneath  this  tree  that 
Gautama  took  his  seat,  resolved  not  to  stir  until  he 
had  attained  to  perfect  knowledge.  The  tempter 
Mara,  with  his  hosts  of  demons,  assailed  him  with 
fiery  darts,  with  rain  in  floods  and  hurricanes  ;  but  the 
Buddha  remained  unmoved,  until  the  defeated  demons 
fled  away.  This  is  probably  a  Buddhist  rendering  of 
the  Vedic  account  of  the  great  fight  between  the 
powers  of  light  and  darkness  for  the  clouds  and  the 
ambrosia  they  contained.  Gautama  also  wins  the 

1  De  Gubernatis,  op.  tit.  vol.  i.  p.  80. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  117 

victory,  but  for  him  it  is  knowledge  and  enlightenment 
that  should  constitute  the  true  object  of  human  desire. 

Briefer  references  to  the  cosmic  tree  are  met  with 
in  the  traditions  of  other  races.  According  to  the 
Phoenicians  the  universe  was  framed  on  the  model 
of  a  tent,  its  axis  a  revolving  cosmic  tree,  supporting 
a  blue  canopy  on  which  the  heavenly  bodies  were  em- 
broidered. The  Egyptians,  in  one  of  their  schemes 
of  the  universe,  also  represented  the  central  axis  as 
a  colossal  tree,  on  whose  branches  Bennu  the  sun  god 
perched.  It  gave  forth  celestial  rain,  which  descended 
on  the  fields  of  Lower  Egypt,  and  penetrated  to  the 
under-world  to  refresh  those  who  are  in  Amenti.  The 
Osirian  Tat-pillar,  alluded  to  in  a  previous  chapter,  is 
thought  by  Professor  Tiele  to  be  derived  from  the 
conception  of  the  world-pillar,  though  M.  Maspero 
regards  its  cosmic  symbolism  as  a  later  accretion. 

"On  a  post  on  which  is  graven  a  human  counte- 
nance, and  which  is  covered  with  gay  clothing,  stands 
the  so-called  Tat-pillar,  entirely  made  up  of  super- 
imposed capitals,  one  of  which  has  a  rude  face 
scratched  upon  it,  intended  no  doubt  to  represent  the 
shining  sun.  On  the  top  of  the  pillar  is  placed  the 
complete  head-dress  of  Osiris,  the  ram's  horns,  the 
sun,  the  ureus  adder,  the  double  feather,  all  emblems 
of  light  and  sovereignty,  which  in  my  judgment 
must  have  been  intended  to  represent  the  highest 
heaven."1 

The  conception  of  the  world  -  tree  is  also  found 
in  the  golden  gem -bearing  tree  of  the  sky,  where, 
according  to  Egyptian  mythology,  Nuit  had  her  abode. 
"She  is  goddess  of  the  heavenly  ocean,  whose  body 
is  decked  with  stars.  The  pilgrim  to  the  lower  world 

1  C.  P.  Tiele,  History  of  Ike  Egyptian  Religion  (London,  1882),  p.  46. 


n8  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

eats  of  the  fruit,  and  the  goddess  leaning  from  the 
tree  pours  out  the  water  of  life."  This  was  in  the  west 
on  the  way  travelled  by  the  dead.  To  the  east  there 
was  another  tree,  with  wide  radiating  branches  bear- 
ing jewels,  up  which  the  strong  morning  sun,  Horus, 
climbed  to  the  zenith  of  heaven.  It  has  been 
suggested  that  this  "  Sycamore  of  Emerald "  was 
a  mythological  rendering  of  the  beautiful  green  tints 
on  the  horizon  at  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun.1 

The  tradition  of  a  universe -tree  is  found  also  in 
China  and  Japan.  The  legends  of  the  latter  country 
speak  of  an  enormous  metal  pine  which  grows  in 
the  north  at  the  centre  of  the  world.2  In  Chinese 
mythology  seven  miraculous  trees  once  flourished  on 
the  Kuen  Ltin  Mountains.  One  of  them,  which  was 
of  jade,  bore  fruit  that  conferred  immortality  ;  another, 
named  Tong,  grew  on  the  highest  peak,  "hard  by  the 
closed  gate  of  heaven." 3 

It  is  interesting  to  find  somewhat  similar  traditions 
current  in  the  New  World.  According  to  the  cosmo- 
gony of  the  Sia  Indians  —  a  small  diminished  tribe 
inhabiting  New  Mexico — there  was  in  each  of  the 
six  regions  of  the  world,  North,  South,  East,  West, 
Zenith,  and  Nadir,  a  mountain  bearing  a  giant  tree, 
in  a  spring  at  the  foot  of  which  dwelt  one  of  the  six 
"  cloud  rulers,"  each  attended  by  one  of  the  six  primal 
Sia  priestesses,  chosen  by  the  arch-mother  to  inter- 
cede with  the  cloud  rulers  to  send  rain  to  the  Sia. 
The  six  trees  were  specified  as  the  spruce,  pine,  aspen, 
cedar,  and  two  varieties  of  the  oak.4 

The  beautiful  conception  met  with  in  some  of  the 

1  Lethaby,  Architecture,   Mysticism,       (June  1888),  pp.  149-159. 

and  Myth  (London,  1892),  p.  120.  4  Eleventh    Annual   Report    of  the 

2  Ibid.  p.  in.  Bureau    of   Ethnology    (Washington, 

3  Babylonian    and  Oriental   Record       1894). 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  119 

above  traditions,  by  which  the  stars  were  compared  at 
once  to  gems  and  to  the  fruits  of  a  mighty  tree,  is 
frequently  encountered  in  ancient  literature.  The 
Arabians  represented  the  zodiac  as  a  tree  with  twelve 
branches,  of  which  the  stars  were  the  fruit,  and  a 
somewhat  similar  idea  appears  in  the  Apocalyptic 
tree  of  life,  which  "  bare  twelve  manner  of  fruits,  and 
yielded  her  fruit  every  month."  The  Babylonian 
hero  Gilgames,  in  his  wanderings  beyond  the  gates  of 
ocean,  came  upon  a  forest,  which 

To  the  forest  of  the  trees  of  the  gods  in  appearance  was  equal ; 

Emeralds  it  carried  as  its  fruit ; 
The  branch  refuses  not  to  support  a  canopy; 

Crystal  they  carried  as  shoots, 
Fruit  they  carry  and  to  the  sight  it  is  glistening.2 

The  device  of  a  golden  tree  hung  with  jewels, 
which  is  common  throughout  the  East  in  all  fine 
goldsmiths'  work,  and  a  good  example  of  which  was 
formerly  one  of  the  treasures  of  the  palace  of  the 
Great  Mogul  at  Agra,3  was  no  doubt  derived  from 
the  conception  of  a  star-bearing  world-tree.  For  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  ancients  believed  gems 
to  be  self-lustrous  like  the  stars.  Homer's  palaces 
emitted  a  radiance  like  moonlight,  and  the  columns  of 
gold  and  emerald  seen  by  Herodotus  at  Tyre  gave 
out  light.4 

We  have  no  direct  instance  of  gem-bearing  trees 
in  Greek  mythology,  though  the  golden  apples  of  the 
Hesperides  growing  on  Mount  Atlas,  the  sky-sustain- 
ing mountain  in  the  country  beyond  the  north  wind, 
had  evidently  some  kinship  to  the  jewelled  fruit  of 
Eastern  legend. 

1  Revelation  xxii.  2.  3  Ibid.  p.  102. 

2  Lethaby,  op.  cit.  p.  107.  4  Herodotus,  ii.  44. 


120  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

In  addition  to  the  Norse  Yggdrasil,  there  are  other 
traces  of  the  tradition  of  a  world -tree  to  be  met  with 
amongst  European  nations.  The  Russians  have  a 
legend,  derived  from  Byzantium,  of  an  iron-tree,  the 
root  of  which  is  the  power  of  God,  while  its  head  sus- 
tains the  three  worlds,  the  heavenly  ocean  of  air,  the 
earth,  and  hell  with  its  burning  fire  and  brimstone.1 
Amongst  the  Saxons  the  idea  of  a  world-tree  seems 
to  have  persisted  even  to  the  time  of  Charlemagne, 
who  in  the  course  of  his  campaign  against  them  in 
772  A.D.  solemnly  destroyed  as  a  heathen  idol  their 
Irmensul  or  "World-pillar,'-'  a  lofty  tree-trunk,  which 
they  worshipped  as  typifying  the  universal  column 
that  supports  all  things.  Mannhardt,  however,  regards 
the  Irmensul  as  simply  a  national  tree,  corresponding 
to  the  community  trees  already  mentioned,  and  ex- 
plains Charlemagne's  act  as  a  political  rather  than  a 
religious  one.2 

In  the  Cathedral  at  Hildesheim  there  is  an  ancient 
stone  column  known  as  the  Irmensaule  (though  its 
claim  to  the  name  is  disputed),  which  was  dug  up 
under  Louis  le  Debonnaire,  and  transformed  into  a 
candelabrum  surmounted  by  an  image  of  the  Virgin,3 
the  conception  of  moral  support  thus  taking  the  place 
of  the  grosser  idea  of  a  material  stay. 

.  As  in  Eastern  legend  the  universe  -  tree  was 
venerated  as  something  more  than  a  mere  material 
supporter  of  the  world,  being  sometimes  the  giver  of 
wisdom  and  sometimes  the  conveyer  of  immortality, 
so  in  European  myth  it  is  found  linked  with  a  similar 
beneficence.  In  the  legends  of  the  Finns  its  branches 
are  represented  as  conferring  "  eternal  welfare,"  and 

1  De  Gubernatis,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  3  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  pp.  107, 
102.                                                                  113. 

2  Mannhardt  I.  307. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE 


21 


"the  delight  that  never  ceases."  The  Kalevala,  which 
dates  back  to  an  unknown  antiquity,  relates  how  the 
last  of  created  trees,  the  oak,  sprang  from  the  magic 
acorn  planted  by  the  hero  Wainamoinen  in  the  ashes 
of  burnt  hay  which  had  been  mown  by  the  water- 
maidens  : — 


Spreads  the  oak-tree  many  branches, 
Rounds  itself  a  broad  corona, 
Raises  it  above  the  storm  clouds  ; 
Far  it  stretches  out  its  branches, 
Stops  the  white  clouds  in  their  courses, 
With  its  branches,  hides  the  sunlight, 
With  its  many  leaves  the  moonbeams, 
And  the  starlight  dies  in  heaven. 


Sad  the  lives  of  man  and  hero, 
Sad  the  house  of  ocean-dwellers, 
If  the  sun  shines  not  upon  them, 
If  the  moonlight  does  not  cheer  them. 


At  the  prayer  of  Wainamoinen,  appalled  by  the 
monstrous  growth,  his  mother,  the  wind-spirit,  sends 
a  tiny  water- creature,  who,  soon  turning  into  a  giant, 
with  a  mighty  swing  of  his  hatchet  strikes  the  tree, 
With  the  second  stroke  he  cuts  it,  and  with  the  third 
fire  springs  from  its  huge  bulk  and  the  oak  yields, 
"  shaking  earth  and  heaven  in  falling."  It  is  not  till 
then  that  its  beneficent  powers  are  made  manifest : — 


Eastward  far  the  trunk  extending, 
Far  to  westward  flew  the  tree-tops, 
To  the  south  the  leaves  were  scattered, 
To  the  north  its  hundred  branches. 
Whosoe'er  a  branch  has  taken  , 
Has  obtained  eternal  welfare. 
Who  receives  himself  a  tree  top 


122  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

He  has  gained  the  master-magic. 
Who  the  foliage  has  gathered 
Has  delight  that  never  ceases.1 

The  corresponding  legend  amongst  the  neighbour- 
ing Esthonians,  as  told  in  their  epic,  the  Kalevipoeg, 
contains  a  quaint  medley  of  the  practical  and  the 
poetic.  Here,  too,  the  monstrous  oak  is  felled  by  a 
giant  who  grows  from  a  dwarf;  in  falling  it  covers 
the  sea  with  its  branches  and  is  quickly  turned  to  use 
by  the  people.  From  the  trunk  is  fashioned  a  bridge 
with  two  arms,  one  stretching  to  Finland,  the  other 
to  an  adjoining  island.  Ships  are  built  from  the 
crown,  and  towns  from  the  roots,  and  toy-boats  from  the 
chips.  What  is  left  over  is  used  to  build  shelters  for 
old  men,  widows,  and  orphans,  and  the  last  remainder 
to  provide  a  hut  for  the  minstrel.  Therewith  he 
gains  "the  master-magic,"  for  the  strangers  who  cross 
the  bridge  now  and  again,  and  stop  at  his  door  to  ask 
what  city  and  what  splendid  palace  stand  before 
them,  receive  for  answer  that  the  palace  is  his  poor 
hut,  and  all  the  splendour  around  is  the  light  of  his 
songs  reflected  from  heaven.2 

To  return  again  to  the  East,  it  has  already  been 
mentioned  that  in  a  tradition  common  both  to  the 
Persians  and  the  Hindus,  and  therefore  presumably  of 
considerable  antiquity,  the  cosmic  tree  produced  the 
food  whereby  the  gods  preserved  their  immortality. 
The  universe-tree  had  become  a  tree  of  life. 
This  conception  of  a  mystical  life-giving  tree  was 
associated  with  the  ritual  use  of  an  earthly  counterpart 
of  the  immortalising  drink. 

According  to    the    Persian    tradition    the    haoma- 

1  Kalevala,  Second  Rune. 
2  W.  F.  Kirby,  The  Hero  of  Esthonia  (London,  1895),  vol.  i.  p.  48. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  123 

tree  grew  beside  the  tree  of  all  seeds  in  a  lake,  where 
it  was  guarded  by  twojish  against  the  attacks  of  the 
lizard  sent  by  Ahriman  to  destroy  the  sacred  sap 
wherewith  the  gods  were  nourished.  It  was  the  first 
of  all  trees  planted  by  Ormuzd  in  the  fountain  of  life,  - 
and  was  identified  with  the  god  Haoma,  who  gave 
strength  and  health  to  the  body,  and  to  the  soul 
enlightenment  and  eternal  life.  This  god  was 
regarded  as  assimilated  to  the  earthly  haoma,  and  as 
present  in  it.  It  is  related  in  the  sacred  writings  that 
he  appeared  one  day  to  Zoroaster  as  he  was  tending 
the  holy  fire,  and  thus  addressed  him :  "  I  am  the 
divine  Haoma,  who  keeps  death  at  bay.  Call  upon 
me,  express  my  juice  that  ye  may  enjoy  me  ;  worship 
me  with  songs  of  praise."  Zoroaster  replied,  "  Honour 
to  Haoma.  He  is  good,  well,  and  truly  born,  the 
giver  of  welfare  and  health,  victorious  and  of  golden 
hue ;  his  branches  bow  down  that  one  may  enjoy 
them.  To  the  soul  he  is  the  way  to  heaven.  In  the 
beginning  Ormuzd  gave  to  Haoma  the  girdle  glitter- 
ing with  stars,  wherewith  he  girded  himself  upon  the 
tops  of  the  mountains." l 

The  juice  of  the  terrestrial  haoma  was  obtained 
from  the  plant  by  the  use  of  pestle  and  mortar,  and  was  r 
taken  whenever  prayer  was  offered.  Every  house  in 
Persia  had  its  haoma-plant  and  its  sacred  pestle  and 
mortar,  which  had  to  be  protected  from  pollution  as 
carefully  as  the  holy  fire  and  the  sacred  myrtle-twigs. 
The  preparation  of  the  haoma- drink  had  its  special 
liturgy,  and  in  dedicating  it  the  cup  was  held  aloft,  not 
placed  on  the  ground,  lest  it  should  be  polluted  by  the 
breath  of  the  worshipper  or  other  impurity.2  The 
Semnion  or  Theombrotion  which,  according  to  Pliny, 

1   Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  516.  2  Ibid.  p.  518. 


124  THE  SACRED  TREE 


was  taken  by  the  Persian  kings  to  keep  off  bodily 
decay  and  to  produce  constancy  of  mind,  was  probably 
identical  with  the  haoma-drink.1 

The  Parsees  of  Bombay  still  continue  the  ritual 
use  of  the  haoma-juice,  deriving  it  from  a  plant  with  a 
knotted  stem  and  leaves  like  those  of  the  jasmine, 
supplies  of  which  are  specially  obtained  from  Kirman 
in  Persia.  They  refuse  to  admit  the  identity  of  the 
Vedic  soma  with  their  own  sacred  plant,  which  they 
assert  is  never  found  in  India.2 

This  fact,  if  true,  would  account  for  the  confusion 
which  appears  to  exist  as  to  the  exact  nature  of  the 
plant  from  which  the  Vedic  soma  or  amrita  was 
derived,  and  indeed  it  is  very  probable  that  in  their 
migrations  southward  the  Hindus  made  use  succes- 
sively of  different  plants.  But  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  soma  ritual  and  the  conceptions 
associated  with  it  were  originally  derived  from  the 
same  source  as  that  of  the  haoma,  and  date  back  to 
a  period  before  the  Aryan  races  had  become  separated. 
Like  the  haoma,  the  soma  is  not  only  a  plant  but 
also  a  powerful  deity,  and  in  both  the  Vedas  and  the 
Zendavesta  "the  conceptions  of  the  god  and  the 
sacred  juice  blend  wonderfully  with  each  other."3 

According  to  Professor  Roth,  the  plant  which  is 
the  source  of  the  intoxicating  drink  offered  to  the 
gods  in  Hindu  sacrifices  is  the  Sarcostemma  acidum 
or  Asclepias  acida,  a  leafless  herb  containing  a  milky 
juice,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  is  identical  with  the 
Vedic  soma  plant.4  Dr.  Haug  states  distinctly  that 
the  plant  at  present  used  by  the  sacrificial  priests  of 

1  Pliny,  xxiv.  102.  i.  p.  375. 

2  Folkard,  op.  dt.  p.  378.  4  De    Gubernatis,    op.  cit.    vol.     ii. 

3  Windischman,  quoted  by  Herbert  p.  350. 
vSpencer,   Principles  of  Sociology,   vol. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  125 

the  Deccan  is  not  the  soma  of  the  Vedas.  It  grows 
on  the  hills  near  Poona  ;  its  sap,  which  is  whitish,  is 
bitter  and  astringent,  but  not  sour  ;  it  is  a  very  nasty 
drink,  but  has  some  intoxicating  effect.  De  Guber- 
natis  concludes  that  as  the  earthly  drink  was  merely  a 
symbol  of  the  heavenly  soma,  its  source  and  character 
were  not  material.  It  is  not  necessary  that  the  drink 
which  the  worshipper  pretends  to  drink  or  to  offer 
to  Indra  at  the  sacrifice  should  be  really  intoxicating. 
The  object  of  the  rite  is  to  induce  Indra  in  heaven  to 
drink  the  water  of  strength,  the  true  soma,  the  real 
ambrosia,  sometimes  conceived  as  hidden  in  the 
clouds,  sometimes  as  dwelling  in  the  soft  light  poured 
forth  by  the  great  Soma,  Indu,  the  moon, — the  tree 
whose  stem,  long,  dark,  and  leafless,  resembles  that  of 
the  earthly  plant  from  which  the  drink  is  ordered  to 
be  prepared.  The  ritual  resolves  itself,  according  to 
De  Gubernatis,  into  a  sun-charm.  Soma,  the  moon,  > 
the  god  of  plants,  the  lord  of  the  dark  forest  of  night 
or  winter,  is  the  good  genius  who  furnishes  the 
miraculous  drink  wherewith  Indra,  the  solar  hero, 
recruits  his  forces.  It  is  under  its  influence,  say  the 
Vedas,  that  Indra  performs  his  great  deeds.  Soma 
does  really  intoxicate  the  gods  in  heaven,  incessantly 
renewing  the  triumph  of  light  over  its  enemies.  The 
sacrifice  of  the  soma  on  earth  is  only  a  pale,  naive, 
and  grotesque  reproduction  of  that  divine  miracle.1 

According  to  the  Vedas,  however,  the  soma-drink, 
which  Windischman  describes  as  "the  holiest  offering  of 
the  ancient  Indian  worship,"  had  a  genuinely  intoxicat- 
ing effect.  It  is  described  as  "  stimulating  speech," 
"calling  forth  the  ardent  thought,"  "generating 
hymns  with  the  powers  of  a  poet " ;  and  is  invoked  as 

1  De  Gubernatis,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  p.  351. 


126  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

"  bestower  of  good,  master  of  a  thousand  songs,  the 
leader  of  sages."  A  hymn  in  the  Rig- Veda  has  been 
thus  translated  : — 

We've  quaffed  the  Soma  bright 

And  are  immortal  grown, 
We've  entered  into  light 

And  all  the  gods  have  known. 
What  mortal  now  can  harm 

Or  foeman  vex  us  more? 
Through  thee,  beyond  alarm, 

Immortal  god  !  we  soar.1 

In  the  Hindu  worship  the  fermented  juice  of  the 
soma-plant  was  presented  in  ladles  to  the  deities 
invoked,  part  sprinkled  on  the  sacrificial  fire,  part  on 
the  sacred  grass  strewed  upon  the  floor,  and  the 
remainder  invariably  drunk  by  those  who  conducted 
the  ceremony.2  In  early  times,  says  Windischman,  its 
use  was  looked  upon  as  a  holy  action,  and  as  a  sacra- 
ment by  which  the  union  with  Brahma  was  obtained. 

The  ambrosia  of  the  Olympian  gods,  like  the  word 
itself,  was  no  doubt  in  its  essence  identical  with  the 
Vedic  amrita  or  soma.  It  contained  the  principle  of 
immortality,  and  was  hence  withheld  from  mortals. 
But  the  word  was  also  applied,  like  the  soma,  to  a 
mixture  of  various  fruits  used  in  religious  rites.3  A 
still  closer  analogy,  however,  with  the  Hindu  and 
Persian  conception  is  to  be  found  in  the  cult  of 
Dionysus,  who  was  regarded  as  present  in  the  wine, 
which  was  his  gift  to  man.  "  He,  born  a  god,"  says 
Euripides,  "is  poured  out  in  libations  to  the  gods." 
And  again,  "  This  god  is  a  prophet.  For  when  he 
forces  his  way  into  the  body,  he  makes  those  who 

1  J.     Muir,    Metrical    Translations  2  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  548. 

from  Sanskrit  writers  (London,  1879),  3  Athenaeus,  473  C. 

p.  1 68.  *  Bacchac,  284. 


vi  THE  UNIVERSE-TREE  127 

rave  to  foretell  the  future."  The  fact  that  Dionysus 
was  essentially  a  tree-god,  "  the  spiritual  form  of  the 
vine,"2  renders  the  analogy  still  more  striking. 

To  discuss  the  genesis  of  the  above  conceptions 
would  be  to  reopen  the  whole  question  of  the  origin 
of  tree-worship.  The  drinking  of  vegetable  juices, 
fermented  or  otherwise,  was  no  doubt  one  of  the 
means  by  which  early  races  were  accustomed  to  pro- 
duce dreams  and  visions,  and  so,  in  their  view,  to  get 
themselves  possessed  by  or  put  into  communication 
with  a  spirit.  It  was  natural,  therefore,  for  them  to 
assume  that  the  spirit  in  question  had  entered  into 
them  with  the  drug,  and  was  therefore  present  in  it  and 
in  the  plant  from  which  it  was  derived.  Mr.  Herbert 
Spencer,  indeed,  argues  that  this  particular  assumption 
was  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  origin  of  plant- 
worship  in  general,  a  main  reason  why  plants  yielding 
intoxicating  agents,  and  hence  other  plants,  came  to 
be  regarded  as  containing  supernatural  beings.3  It 
would  probably,  however,  be  safer  to  conclude  that 
the  sacramental  use  of  the  juice  of  plants  is  merely 
one  amongst  many  cognate  religious  usages,  and  like 
the  ritual  employment  of  wreaths  in  the  service  of  the 
gods,  the  attachment  of  branches  to  the  house,  and  the 
smiting  with  the  "life-rood,"  sprang  out  of  the  desire 
of  men  to  bring  nearer  to  themselves  a  spirit  already 
believed  to  exist,  and  thus  to  ensure  their  enjoyment 
of  the  protection  and  the  benefits  presumed  to  be  at 
his  disposal. 

1  Bacchae,  297.  3  Principles  of  Sociology,  vol.   i.  p. 

2  W.  Pater,  Greek  Studies  (London,       377. 
1895),  P-  7- 


CHAPTER   VII 

PARADISE 

No  account  of  tree-worship  would  be  complete  without 
a  chapter  on  that  tradition  of  a  paradise  or  ideal  garden 
of  delight  which  is  met  with  in  the  mythology  of 
almost  all  the  nations  of  antiquity.  The  form  of  the 
tradition  varies.  Paradise  was  sometimes  represented 
(i)  as  the  seat  of  the  gods  ;  sometimes  (2)  as  the  first 
home  of  the  parents  of  mankind  ;  and  in  other  cases 
as  (3)  the  abode  of  the  spirits  of  the  blessed.  Occa- 
sionally the  different  conceptions  are  combined  ;  but 
the  earlier  traditions  all  concur  in  connecting  paradise 
with  a  miraculous  tree  or  trees,  or  with  a  more  or  less 
legendary  mountain,  from  which  it  may  be  plausibly 
inferred  that  they  date  back  to  the  days  of  that  primi- 
tive cosmogony  when  the  heavens  were  supposed  to 
be  upheld  by  a  material  support.  Thus  in  one,  at 
least,  of  its  aspects  the  tradition  of  paradise  must  be 
regarded  as  an  offshoot  of  the  sacred  tree. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  understand  how  the  various 
conceptions  arose.  In  the  first  place,  as  the  idea  of  a 
life  or  spirit  more  or  less  bound  to  the  tree  became 
expanded  into  that  of  a  powerful  and  wide-ranging 
god,  the  idealising  process  demanded  for  him  some 
home  in  heaven  corresponding  to  the  tree  which  was 


CHAP,  vii  PARADISE  129 

his  favourite  habitat  or  embodiment  on  earth.  The 
sacred  god-haunted  tree,  to  which  worship  and  gifts 
were  accorded  below,  suggested  a  mystical  counter- 
part above,  and  the  proper  home  of  deity  was  as- 
sumed to  be  that  marvellous  tree  whose  branches 
were  the  sky  and  its  fruit  the  sun  and  stars,  or  that 
lofty  mountain  whose  summit  touched  and  supported 
the  heavens. 

In  the  second  place,  the  belief,  common  in  primi- 
tive mythology,  that  the  first  parents  were  born  from 
trees,  presumably  led  to  the  idea  that  these  honoured 
ancestors,  whose  innocence  was  a  part  of  their  ideali- 
sation, lived  amongst  trees  and  in  a  garden  equally 
idealised. 

The  third  conception  of  paradise  naturally  grew 
out  of  the  earlier  conceptions,  when  there  arose  the 
belief  in  a  future  life  of  reward  or  punishment ;  though 
it  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  conception  of  heaven 
under  the  form  of  a  garden  prevailed,  par  excellence  y 
amongst  settled  nations,  living  under  kings  of  whose 
state  a  luxurious  garden  or  pleasaunce  formed  an 
essential  part.1 

Of  paradise  regarded  as  the  abode  of  the  gods,  the 
Indian  tradition  of  the  garden  of  Indra  furnishes  the 
best  example.  It  was  situated  on  Mount  Meru,  on  the 
confines  of  Cashmere,  and  contained  the  five  wonder- 
ful trees  which  sprang  from  the  waters,  after  the 
churning  of  the  cosmic  ocean  by  the  gods  and  the 
demons.  Under  these  trees  the  gods  took  their  ease, 
enjoying  the  ambrosia  that  fell  from  them.  The 
garden,  watered  by  springs  and  rivulets,  contained 
luminous  flowers,  fruits  that  conferred  immortality, 
and  birds  whose  song  even  the  gods  loved  to  hear. 

1  De  Gubernatis,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  261. 
K 


130 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


CHAP. 


The  chief  of  its  five  miraculous  trees  was  the  parid- 
jata,  the  flower  of  which  preserved  its  freshness 
throughout  the  year,  contained  in  itself  every  scent 
and  flavour,  and  gave  happiness  to  whoever  demanded 
it.  It  was,  moreover,  a  test  of  virtue,  losing  its 
splendour  in  the  hands  of  the  sinful,  and  preserving 
it  for  him  who  followed  duty.  Each  person  found  in 
it  his  favourite  colour  and  perfume.  It  served  as  a 
torch  by  night,  was  a  talisman  against  hunger,  thirst, 
disease,  and  decrepitude,  and  discoursed  the  sweetest 
and  most  varied  music.1  De  Gubernatis  quotes  several 
other  instances  from  Indian  literature  of  a  legendary 
celestial  garden.2 

Of  paradise,  as  the  home  of  the  first  parents,  the 
Pentateuch  gives  the  most  circumstantial  account, 
though  it  would  appear  from  Genesis  iii.  8  that  the 
Biblical  paradise  was  also  regarded  as  a  favourite 
resort  of  Jehovah.  The  sacred  books  of  the  Parsis 
contain  a  very  similar  version.  The  original  human 
pair,  Maschia  and  Maschiana,  sprang  from  a  tree  in 
Heden,  a  delightful  spot  where  grew  horn  or  haoma, 

the  marvellous  tree  of  life, 
whose  fruit  imparted 
vigour  and  immortality. 
The  woman,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Ahriman,  the 
spirit  of  evil  in  the  guise 
of  a  serpent,  gave  her 

FIG.  28.-From  a  Babylonian  seal.         husband    fru;t    to    ^    and 

(Goblet  d'Alviella.) 

so     led     to     their     ruin.3 

The  tradition  is  no  doubt  of  very  ancient  origin,  and 
is  supposed  to  be  represented  on  an  early  Babylonian 


1  De  Gubernatis,  vol.  i.  p.  262.  '2  Ibid.  p.  182. 

3  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  9. 


viz  PARADISE  131 

seal  now  in  the  British  Museum.  The  tree  stands  in 
the  middle,  from  either  side  two  human  beings  seated 
stretch  forth  their  hands  for  its  fruit  ;  the  serpent 
stands  erect  behind  one  of  them.1  On  another 
cylinder  in  the  Museum  at  the  Hague  there  is  repre- 
sented a  garden  with  trees  and  birds  ;  in  the  middle 
a  palm,  from  which  two  personages  are  plucking  the 
fruit  ;  a  third  with  a  fruit  in  his  hand  seems  to  address 
them.2 

The  two  mystical  trees  of  the  Biblical  paradise 
find  their  common  counterpart  in  the  sacred  cedar 
of  the  Chaldaeans,  which,  besides  being  essentially 
a  tree  of  life,  employed  in  magic  rites  to  restore 
strength  and  life  to  the  body,  was  also  "  the  revealer 
of  the  oracles  of  earth  and  heaven."  Upon  its  core 
the  name  of  Ea,  the  god  of  wisdom,  was  supposed  to 
be  written,3  just  as  the  name  of  Ormuzd  was  first 
disclosed  to  man  by  appearing  carved  in  the  wood  of 
his  sacred  cypress.  The  tree  of  life  also  finds  a 
parallel  in  the  divine  soma,  the  giver  of  eternal  youth 
and  immortality,  a  drink  reserved  only  for  the  celestial 
gods  or  the  souls  of  the  blessed. 

The  third  conception  of  paradise,  as  the  dwelling- 
place  of  the  righteous  dead,  is  met  with  in  the  earliest 
Greek  literature,4  but  there  is  no  definite  trace  of  it 
amongst  the  Semitic  nations  until  much  later.  It  did 
not,  apparently,  find  recognition  amongst  the  Jews  until 
after  the  exile,  but  references  to  it  are  frequent  in 
their  later  apocalyptic  literature.5  In  the  second  book 
of  Esdras,  the  Lord  tells  His  people  that  He  will 
bring  them  out  of  the  tombs,  and  that  He  has  sancti- 

1  G.    Smith,    Chaldaean  Account  of  4  Homer,  Odyssey ',  iv.  563  ;  Hesiod, 
Genesis,  pp.  88,  89.  Works  and  Days,  166. 

2  J.  Menant,  op,  tit.  vol.  i.  fig.  121.  5  Encyclop.   Brit.,  gth  edition,  vol. 

3  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  240.  viii.  p.  536. 


1 32  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

fied  and  prepared  for  them  "  twelve  trees,  laden  with 
divers  fruits,  and  as  many  fountains  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey,  and  seven  mighty  mountains,  whereupon 
there  grow  roses  and  lilies."1  "  They  shall  have  the 
tree  of  life  for  an  ointment  of  sweet  savour ;  they 
shall  neither  labour  nor  be  weary."' 

In  the  Rabbinical  writings,  and  still  more  in  the 
Koran,  this  conception  of  paradise  is  embroidered 
with  many  fanciful  extravagances.  The  Talmud  even 
invents  two  paradises.  "  There  is  an  upper  paradise 
and  a  lower  paradise.  And  between  them  is  fixed  a 
pillar,  by  which  they  are  joined  together,  and  which 
is  called  'The  strength  of  the  Hill  of  Sion.'  And 
by  this  pillar  on  every  Sabbath  and  festival  the  souls 
of  the  righteous  ascend  from  the  lower  to  the  upper 
paradise,  and  there  enjoy  the  light  of  the  Divine 
Majesty  till  the  end  of  the  Sabbath  or  festival,  when 
they  descend  and  return  into  the  lower  paradise." 

This  pillar  is  no  doubt  a  survival  of  the  old  tradi- 
tion of  the  world-tree,  a  tradition  still  more  obviously 
traceable  in  the  Mahometan  belief.  According  to 
the  Koran  paradise  is  situated  in  the  seventh  heaven. 
In  the  centre  of  it  stands  the  marvellous  tree  called 
Tooba,  which  is  so  large  that  a  man  mounted  on  the 
fleetest  horse  could  not  ride  round  its  branches  in  a 
hundred  years.  This  tree  not  only  affords  the  most 
grateful  shade  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  Mussulman 

O 

paradise,  but  its  boughs,  laden  with  delicious  fruits 
of  a  size  and  taste  unknown  to  mortals,  bend  them- 
selves to  be  plucked  at  the  wish  of  the  happy  denizens 
of  that  blissful  abode.  The  rivers  of  paradise  take 
their  rise  from  the  tree,  flowing  some  with  water, 

1  2  Esdras  ii.  18.  3  JL\$&\merigertEntdecktesJu<lcntkum 

2  Ibid.  ii.  12.  (1700),  Bd.  II.  p.  318. 


PARADISE  133 


some  with  milk,  and  some  with  honey  ;  while  others 
are  filled  with  wine,  the  use  of  which  is  not  forbidden 
to  the  blessed.1 

The  confusion  of  thought  apparent  in  these  ancient 
traditions  of  paradise  was  no  doubt  partly  due  to  the 
fact  that  primitive  man,  with  his  limited  grasp  of  the 
possibilities  of  space,  pictured  heaven  as  not  far  dis- 
tant from  him.  It  was  a  happier  and  a  brighter  earth, 
which  offered  material  rather  than  spiritual  joys,  and 
where,  according  to  the  earliest  conceptions,  the  spirits 
of  the  departed  carried  on  the  same  pursuits,  reaped 
and  sowed  and  hunted,  as  they  had  done  while  in  life. 
Thus  the  old  Accadian  dwellers  by  the  Euphrates 
pictured  the  sky  as  the  counterpart  of  their  own  fertile 
plains,  and  the  sun  as  a  ploughman  yoking  his  oxen  to 
the  glittering  plough,  with  which  he  tilled  the  heavenly 
pasture.2  The  same  idea  is  exemplified  in  the  names 
of  the  zodiacal  constellations,  which  are  of  extremely 
ancient  origin,  the  sign  we  still  know  as  Taurus 
being  called  by  the  Accadians  "the  bull  who  guides 
the  year."  So  near  was  heaven  that  it  was  not  impos- 
sible to  climb  up  to  it,  if  you  could  but  find  the  cosmic 
tree  by  which  it  was  upheld.  The  Khasias  of  India 
have  a  legend  that  the  stars  are  men  who  have  climbed 
into  heaven  by  a  tree.3  The  Mbocobis  of  Paraguay 
still  believe  that  the  souls  of  the  dead  go  up  "to  the 
earth  on  high  "  by  the  tree  which  joins  us  to  heaven, 
and  find  an  entrance  by  means  of  the  holes  in  the 
sky -roof  through  which  the  rain  descends.4  There 
is  a  Chinese  story  of  a  king,  who  having  heard  of  the 
glories  of  paradise,  set  forth  in  search  of  it.  After 
long  wanderings  he  came  to  a  mighty  column,  which, 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  p.  10.  4  E.    B.    Tylor,    Early   History    of 

2  A.  H.  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  48.  Mankind  (London,  1878),  p.  358. 

3  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  171. 


134  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

he  had  been  told,  must  be  climbed  in  order  to  reach 
the  wished-for  goal.  But  it  was  too  slippery,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  fall  back  upon  the  alternative  route, 
a  steep  and  rugged  mountain  path.  When  almost 
fainting  with  fatigue  he  was  assisted  by  some  friendly 
nymphs,  and  at  length  arrived  at  a  beautiful  garden, 
with  a  wondrous  tree  in  its  midst,  and  a  fountain  of 
immortality,  from  which  four  rivers,  flowing  to  the  four 
corners  of  the  earth,  took  their  rise.1 

The  same  notion  of  the  similarity  and  propinquity 
of  the  heavenly  field  is  illustrated  by  the  story  of  the 
Etruscan  priest,  who  by  his  charms  brought  down  to 
earth  a  bit  of  heaven  whereon  to  build  his  temple. 
The  Mahometans  assert  that  the  Caaba  was  lowered 
directly  from  the  celestial  paradise  exactly  at  the 
centre  of  the  earth.  And  the  Bedouins  of  Arabia 
still  believe  that  the  jinni,  living  near  the  lowest 
heaven,  can  hear  the  conversation  of  the  angels,  and 
so  gain  valuable  information  which  they  are  able  to 
impart  to  men.2 

Homer  placed  the  seat  of  the  gods  and  the  court 
of  Zeus  upon  the  summit  of  Olympus,3  which  was  sup- 
posed to  touch  heaven,  and  piercing  through  the  region 
of  rain  and  cloud  to  reach  into  the  calm  ether,  where 
reigned  eternal  spring.  By  later  writers,  however, 
Olympus  was  represented  as  an  unsubstantial  region 
overhead,  with  the  palace  of  Zeus  in  its  midst.  The 
earlier  view  of  Olympus  exactly  corresponds  with  the 
Chaldaean  "  mount  of  the  world,"  the  mountain  of 
Arallu  or  Hades,  where  the  gods  had  their  seat,  and 
beneath  which  was  the  world  of  ghosts  ;4  also  with  the 
Mount  of  the  Assembly  spoken  of  by  Isaiah,  and  with 

1  W.    F.    Warren,    Paradise  Found       Century  (October  1895),  p.  607. 
(London,  1885),  p.  144.  3  Iliad,  xi.  76. 

2  J.     Theodore     Bent,     Nineteenth  4  Sayce,  op.  cit.  p.  360. 


viz    .  PARADISE  135 

the  Scandinavian  Asgard.  But  there  is  a  clearer 
reminiscence  of  the  elevated  paradise  of  Oriental 
legend  in  the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  world -sup- 
porting Atlas,  with  their  delicious  fruits,  their  golden 
apples,  and  their  protecting  dragon.  The  third  con- 
ception of  paradise,  as  the  abode  of  the-  blessed,  is 
also  met  with  in  Greek  mythology  in  the  Elysian 
fields,  or  islands  of  the  blessed,  also  placed  by  some 
authorities  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Mount  Atlas. 
Here  the  souls  of  the  virtuous  enjoyed  perfect  happiness, 
in  bowers  for  ever  green,  and  amongst  meadows  watered 
by  pleasant  streams  and  bestarred  with  asphodel.  The 
air  was  pure  and  serene,  the  birds  warbled  in  the  groves, 
and  the  inhabitants  carried  on  such  avocations  as  they 
had  delighted  in  when  on  earth.  Later  writers, 
however,  substituted  for  these  innocent  pleasures  the 
voluptuous  indulgences  of  the  Mahometan  paradise. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  the  ancient  tradition  of  an  elevated 
paradise,  of  a  paradise  seated  on  the  summit  of  a 
heaven  -  touching  world  -  mountain,  which  influenced 
Milton  in  his  celebrated  description,  for  there  is  no- 
thing in  the  Biblical  account  to  suggest  the  excessive 
altitude  that  he  so  deliberately  accentuates.  Paradise, 
according  to  the  poet- 
crowns  with  her  enclosure  green, 

As  with  a  rural  mound,  the  champain  head 

Of  a  steep  wilderness,   .  .  . 

and  overhead  up?grew 

Insuperable  height  of  loftiest  shade, 

Cedar,  and  pine,  and  fir,  and  branching  palm ; 
.  .  .   Yet  higher  than  their  tops 

The  verdurous  wall  of  paradise  up-sprung. 

And  higher  than  that  wall  a  circling  row 
Of  goodliest  trees,  loaden  with  fairest  fruit.1 

1  Paradise  Lost,  Book  IV.  133-147. 


136  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

As  man's  conceptions  of  God  have  widened  with 
a  more  extended  knowledge  of  His  universe  and  a 
fuller  realisation  of  his  own  history  on  the  earth,  these 
older  conceptions  of  paradise  as  the  home  of  deity 
and  the  abode  of  the  blessed  have  decayed,  until  at  the 
present  day,  however  much  our  theologians  may  differ 
in  their  descriptions  of  heaven,  they  agree  at  least  in  this, 
that  whatever  it  is,  it  is  not  a  garden.  But  the  belief 
in  the  existence  of  an  earthly  paradise,  which  formed 
a  part  of  the  traditions  of  so  many  ancient  nations, 
lingered  on  for  centuries  after  "  the  Holy  City  "  of  the 
New  Testament  had  displaced  the  Paradise  of  the  Old. 

The  features  of  this  earthly  paradise  are  for  the 
most  part  similar  to  those  familiar  to  us  in  the  Biblical 
description.  It  contained  the  fountain  of  immortality, 
from  which  sprang  the  four  rivers  that  flowed  to  the 
four  quarters  of  the  earth.  Purling  brooks  ran  with 
thie  far-famed  ambrosia.  The  dwellers  therein  reposed 
on  flowery  lawns,  lulled  by  the  melodious  warblings  of 
birds  and  feasting  on  delicious  fruits.  Whatever  there 
was  of  beautiful  or  sublime  in  nature  there  found  its 
more  perfect  counterpart.  Absolute  contentment  and 
serenity  and  the  delight  that  never  dies  were  the  boons 
it  offered.  There  man  could  cease  from  toil,  for  nature, 
unassisted,  produced  all  that  was  necessary  for  his 
sustenance.  This  garden  of  delight  was  often  sought 
after  but  seldom  found,  except  by  semi-divine  heroes 
divinely  led.  Hercules,  directed  by  Nereus,  the  sea- 
god,  succeeded  in  attaining  the  gardens  of  the  Hes- 
perides  on  the  world -supporting  Mount  Atlas,  the 
Pillar  of  Heaven,  as  Herodotus  calls  it.  He  con- 
quered the  protecting  dragon  and  secured  the  golden 
sun -fruit  from  the  central  tree.1  The  Chaldaean 

1  Hesiod,  Theogn.  215  et  seq. 


vii  PARADISE  137 

Hercules,  Gilgames,  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter, 
found  a  similar  tree  with  magic  fruit  upon  it  when  he 
reached  the  gates  of  ocean. 

This  idea  of  an  actual  paradise  upon  earth  has 
fascinated  the  mind  of  man  in  all  ages,  and  has  been 
one  of  his  most  cherished  and  persistent  traditions.  It 
was  an  idea  that  no  doubt  arose  out  of  and  corresponded 
to  his  lifelong  craving  for  a  perfect  peace  and  happiness 
which  he  never  found  in  the  world  he  knew,  and  which 
he  has  at  length  realised  to  be  incompatible  with  his 
own  organisation.  It  has  taken  him  centuries  to  dis- 
cover that  if  there  is  no  earthly  paradise  it  is  he  himself 
and  not  the  world  that  is  at  fault.  But  the  tradition 
was  slow  to  die,  and  there  are  probably  people  who 
still  believe,  as  Sir  John  Maundeville  believed  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  that  the  Garden  of  Eden  exists 
somewhere  upon  the  earth  if  it  could  only  be  found. 
This  is  what  the  famous  traveller  says  :— 

"And  beyond  the  land,  and  isles,  and  deserts  of 
Prester  John's  lordship,  in  going  straight  towards  the 
East,  men  find  nothing  but  mountains  and  great  rocks  ; 
and  there  is  the  dark  region,  where  no  man  may  see, 
neither  by  day  nor  night,  as  they  of  the  country  say. 
And  that  desert,  and  that  place  of  darkness,  lasts  from 
this  coast  unto  Terrestrial  Paradise,  where  Adam,  our 
first  father,  and  Eve  were  put,  who  dwelt  there  but  a 
little  while,  and  that  is  towards  the  east,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  earth. 

"  Of  Paradise  I  cannot  properly  speak,  for  I  was  not 
there.  It  is  far  beyond  ;  and  I  repent  not  going  there, 
but  I  was  not  worthy.  But  as  I  have  heard  say  of 
wise  men  beyond,  I  shall  tell  you  with  good -will. 
Terrestrial  Paradise,  as  wise  men  say,  is  the  highest 
place  of  the  earth  ;  and  it  is  so  high  that  it  nearly 


'•*. 


138  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

touches  the  circle  of  the  moon,  there  as  the  moon 
makes  her  turn.  For  it  is  so  high  that  the  flood  of 
Noah  might  not  come  to  it,  that  would  have  covered 
all  the  earth  of  the  world  all  about,  and  above  and 
beneath,  except  Paradise.  And  this  Paradise  is 
enclosed  all  about  with  a  wall,  and  men  know  not 
whereof  it  is ;  for  the  wall  is  covered  all  over  with 
moss,  as  it  seems ;  and  it  seems  not  that  the  wall  is 
natural  stone.  And  that  wall  stretches  from  the  south 
to  the  north  ;  .and  it  has  but  one  entry,  which  is  closed 
with  burning  fire,  so  that  no  man  that  is  mortal  dare 
enter.  And  in  the  highest  place  of  Paradise,  exactly 
in  the  middle,  is  a  well  that  casts  out  four  streams, 
which  run  by  divers  lands,  of  which  the  first  is  called 
Pison  or  Ganges,  that  runs  through  India  or  Emlak, 
in  which  river  are  many  precious  stones,  and  much 
lignum  aloes,  and  much  sand  of  gold.  And  the  other 
river  is  called  Nile  or  Gyson,  which  goes  through 
Ethiopia,  and  after  through  Egypt.  And -the  other  is 
called  Tigris,  which  runs  by  Assyria  and  by  Armenia 
the  Great.  And  the  other  is  called  Euphrates,  which 
runs  through  Media,  Armenia,  and  Persia.  And  men 
there  beyond  say  that  all  the  sweet  waters  of  the  world, 
above  and  beneath,  take  their  beginning  from  the  well 
of  Paradise  ;  and  out  of  that  well  all  waters  come  and 

go."  ' 

The  paradise  in  the  existence  of  which  the  great 
traveller  so  firmly  believed  is  represented  in  a  thirteenth- 
century  map  as  a  circular  island  lying  to  the  east  of 
India,  and  the  cartographer  has  not  forgotten  to  intro- 
duce even  the  gate  from  which  our  first  parents  were 
expelled. 

A  fourteenth -century  Icelandic  saga  describes    a 

1  Early  Travels  in  Palestine  (London,  Bohn,  1848),  p.  276. 


vii  PARADISE  139 

voyage  undertaken  by  a  prince  and  his  chosen  friend 
in  search  of  the  Deathless  Land.  They  first  went  to 
Constantinople  to  consult  the  Emperor,  and  were  told 
that  the  earthly  paradise  was  slightly  to  the  south  of 
India.  Arrived  in  that  country  they  continued  the 
journey  on  horseback,  and  came  at  last  to  a  dense 
forest,  the  gloom  of  which  was  so  great  through  the 
interlacing  of  the  boughs  that  even  by  day  the  stars 
could  be  seen.  Emerging  from  it  they  saw,  across 
a  strait,  a  beautiful  land,  which  was  unmistakably 
paradise.  The  strait  was  crossed  by  a  stone  bridge 
guarded  by  a  dragon.^-  The  prince,  in  no  ways  de- 
terred, walked  deliberately  sword  in  hand  against  the 
dragon,  and  the  next  moment,  to  his  infinite  surprise 
and  delight,  he  found  himself  in  paradise.  Here  he 
encountered  all  the  joys  heart  could  desire,  and  ex- 
hausted with  delight  he  fell  asleep.  In  his  dreams  his 
guardian  angel  appeared  to  him  and  promised  to  lead 
him  home,  but  to  come  for  him  again  and  take  him 
away  for  ever  at  the  expiration  of  the  tenth  year.1 

Many  other  mediaeval  stories  could  be  quoted,  in 
which  the  traveller  claims  to  have  found  paradise.  It 
was  a  favourite  subject  with  the  court  minstrels,  proving 
that  even  the  envied  dwellers  around  a  throne  are  not 
less  open  than  other  men  to  the  fascinating  dream  of  a 
still  more  perfect  happiness. 

Plato's  story  of  the  lost  Atlantis,  supposed  to  have 
been  related  to  Solon  when  in  Egypt,  also  belongs  to 
the  class  of  paradise  legends.  It  was  situated  in  the 
Atlantic,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 
Larger  than  Libya  and  Asia  together,  it  was  the  seat 
of  a  great  and  wonderful  empire,  the  subjects  of  which, 
after  many  conquests,  set  out  to  subdue  Hellas,  but 

1  S.  Baring-Gould,  Curious  Myths  of  the  Middle  Ages  (London,  1866),  p.  236. 


140  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

were  defeated  by  the  Athenians.  Shortly  afterwards 
there  arose  violent  earthquakes  and  floods,  and  in  a 
single  day  and  night  the  island  disappeared  beneath  the 
sea.  All  this  happened  9000  years  before  the  time  of 
Plato.1  According  to  other  accounts,  when  the  gods  dis- 
tributed the  whole  earth  amongst  themselves  Atlantis 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Poseidon,  and  the  children  he  had  by 
Cleito,  a  mortal,  ruled  over  the  surrounding  country. 
The  eldest,  Atlas,  gave  his  name  to  the  island  and .  to 
the  Atlantic  Ocean.  This  sacred  land  brought  forth 
in  abundance  the  most  beautiful  and  delicious  fruits, 
and  magnificent  buildings  were  constructed  from  the 
minerals  and  fragrant  woods  of  the  place,  notably  a 
holy  temple  dedicated  to  Poseidon  and  Cleito,  which 
was  protected  by  an  enclosure  of  gold.  A  wealth  of 
fountains  and  hot  and  cold  springs  supplied  luxurious 
baths.  The  government  was  humane  and  just,  and  the 
people  took  their  due  share  in  it.  So  long  as  the  divine 
nature  lasted  in  them  they  were  obedient  to  the  laws 
and  well  affected  to  the  gods,  their  kinsmen,  evincing 
gentleness  and  wisdom  in  the  various  chances  of  life 
and  in  their  intercourse  with  each  other,  and  setting 
more  value  on  virtue  than  on  wealth  and  luxury.  But 
in  the  end,  as  the  divine  part  in  them  died  away,  they 
fell  from  virtue,  and  they  and  their  island  were  sub- 
merged for  ever  beneath  the  waves. 

This  legend,  which  would  appear  to  combine  with 
the  idea  of  an  earthly  paradise  another  tradition  equally 
familiar  to  antiquity,  that  of  a  retributory  deluge,  sur- 
vived into  the  Middle  Ages,  and  became  blended  with 
the  legends  of  the  Celtic  Church.  For  the  Atlantic 
paradise  is  distinctly  reproduced  in  that  legendary 
Isle  of  Avalon,2  which  St.  Brandan,  an  Irish  saint  of 

1   Plato,   Timaeus,  iii.  2  \V.  F.  Warren,  op.  cit.  p.  12. 


vii  PARADISE  141 

the  sixth  century,  was  said  to  have  found  in  the  course     . 
of  a  seven  years'  voyage  ;  the  isle— 

Where  falls  not  hail  or  rain  or  any  snow, 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly,  but  it  lies 
Deep-meadowed,  happy,  fair,  with  orchard  lawns 
And  bowery  hollows. 

Columbus,  in  his  third  voyage,  came  upon  a  spot, 
the  site  of  which  corresponded  with  the  description 
given  of  the  earthly  paradise  by  "  holy  and  wise 
theologians."  But  he  hesitated  to  ascend  thither  and 
assure  himself  of  the  correctness  of  his  conclusion,  as 
no  one  could  succeed  in  such  an  undertaking  without 
the  divine  permission.1 

The  Japanese  have  a  legend  of  an  Island  of  Eternal 
Youth,  which  exists  beyond  the  horizon  in  the  shadowy 
unknown.  Some  fortunate  observers  have  from  time 
to  time  seen  a  wondrous  tree  rising  high  above  the 
waves.  It  is  the  tree  which  has  stood  for  all  ages  on 
the  loftiest  peak  of  Fusan,  the  Mountain  of  Immortality. 
The  island  has  the  traditional  characteristics  of  the 
earthly  paradise, — endless  spring,  airs  ever  sweet,  un- 
clouded skies,  unfading  flowers,  birds  that  sing  of  love 
and  joy,  trees  whose  celestial  dews  carry  with  them  the 
secret  of  eternity.  Sorrow,  pain,  and  death  are  un- 
known, and  the  elect  of  the  gods,  who  people  that 
delightful  spot,  fill  their  days  with  music  and  laughter 
and  song,  knowing  nothing  of  the  flight  of  time.  The 
miracle  of  the  spring  in  other  lands  is  due  to  the 
whisper  of  the  spirit  of  the  island.2 

This  Japanese  legend  preserves  the  intimate  con- 
nection between  paradise  and  the  cosmic  tree,  which 
is  often  found  to  have  dropped  out  of  other  versions  of 

1  Select  Letters  of  Columbus  (Hakluyt  Society),  p.  137. 
2  Old-World  Japan,  p.  79. 


142  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

the  tradition.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that 
originally  the  mystical  tree  was  the  essential  feature  of 
paradise,  and  the  garden  was  merely  its  precinct  or 
setting — one  of  the  many  conceptions  which  grew  up 
around  the  central  idea  of  the  cosmic  tree.  Each 
nation,  according  to  its  stage  of  culture  or  its  prevailing 
habit  of  thought,  emphasised  one  feature  of  it.  The 
monster  tree  which,  according  to  primitive  cosmogony, 
was  believed  to  support  the  universe  by  material 
branches,  became  in  the  minds  of  more  cultivated 
races  the  central  tree  of  a  dimly-realised  paradise,  and 
eventually  the  symbol  of  an  abstract  idea.  The  intellec- 
tual Buddhist  saw  in  it  the  emblem  of  knowledge  ; 
the  Persian  thought  of  it  as  the  tree  of  immortality  ; 
the  Hebrew,  filled  with  the  idea  of  man's  frailty  and 
with  the  longing  to  explain  it,  made  it  the  tree  of 
temptation.1 1*° 

But  in  all  these  various  conceptions  we  find  a 
central  idea,  derived  no  doubt  from  an  antecedent  and 
universal  tree-worship,  an  idea  which  places  a  tree  at 
the  root  of  all  philosophy,  refers  all  phenomena  to  the 
existence  of  a  central  tree,  serviceable  to  man  here  or 
hereafter,  and  concentrating  upon  itself  the  reverent 
devotion  which  had  outgrown  its  earthly  counterpart. 

There  are  many  facts  to  prove  the  importance 
attached  in  ancient  times  to  this  conception  of  a 
glorified  tree.  Amongst  the  gorgeous  decorations  of 
the  palaces  of  Eastern  kings  a  symbolical  representation 
of  the  tree  of  paradise  was  frequently  found. 

Tall  as  the  cedar  of  the  mountain,  here 

Rose  the  gold  branches,  hung  with  emerald  leaves, 

Blossomed  with  pearls,  and  rich  with  ruby  fruit. 

1  Goblet  d'Alviella,  op.  cit.  p.  176. 


vii  PARADISE  143 

Sir  John  Maundeville  describes  one  which  he  saw 
in  the  palace  of  the  Chan  of  Cathay.  "  It  is  a  vine 
made  of  fine  gold,  which  spreads  all  about  the  hall,  and 
it  has  many  clusters  of  grapes,  some  white,  some  green, 
some  yellow,  some  red,  and  some  black,  all  of  precious 
stones ;  the  white  are  of  crystal,  beryl,  and  iris  ;  the 
yellow  of  topazes ;  the  red  of  rubies,  grenaz,  and 
alabraundines  ;  the  green  of  emeralds  and  perydoz  and 
of  chrysolites  ;  and  the  black  of  onyx  and  garnets. 
And  they  are  all  so  properly  made  that  it  appears  a 
real  vine,  bearing  natural  grapes."1 

According  to  an  Arab  writer,  quoted  by  Gibbon,2 
there  existed  in  the  magnificent  palace  of  the  Caliph  of 
Bagdad,  in  917  A.D.,  amongst  other  spectacles  of  rare 
and  stupendous  luxury,  a  tree  of  gold  and  silver, 
spreading  into  eighteen  large  branches,  on  which  and 
on  the  lesser  boughs  sat  a  variety  of  birds  made  of  the 
same  precious  metals.  While  the  machinery  effected 
spontaneous  motions  the  several  birds  warbled  their 
natural  harmony,  f  The  intention  was,  no  doubt,  to 
represent  the  traditional  luxuriance  of  paradise,  and  a 
similar  motive  is  met  with  in  Eastern  design  even  in 
the  present  day. 

The  tradition  of  a  king  who  built  a  false  paradise, 
like  Sheddad  in  Southey's  Thalaba,  seems  always  to 
have  been  current  in  Western  Asia.  ^There  is  in  the 
British  Museum  a  sculpture  from  Koyunjik  represent- 
ing a  palace,  or  may  be  a  temple,  constructed  in  imita- 
tion of  a  paradise.  The  artificial  hill,  representing  the 
world-mountain  on  which  it  stands,  is  planted  with 
trees  and  flowers,  and  watered  by  a  stream  that  issues 
from  a  hanging  garden. 

1  Lethaby,  op.  cit.  p.  97.  2  Decline  and  Fa!!,  chap.  lii. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

MAY    CELEBRATIONS 

IN  these  days,  when  so  much  is  done  to  equalise  the 
seasons,  when  in  the  flower-shops  spring  treads  on 
the  heels  of  autumn,  and  Christmas  windows  are  gay 
with  tropical  fruits,  when  fresh  meat  is  always  on  the 
stalls,  and  the  earth  is  tapped  of  its  light  and  warmth  to 
make  up  for  the  absent  sun,  it  is  difficult  to  realise  the 
delight  and  enthusiasm  with  which  our  forefathers 
welcomed  the  yearly  miracle  of  the  spring.  It  meant 
so  much  to  them, — release  from  the  cold  and  the  dark- 
ness that  fell  hardly  on  all  but  the  rich  ;  a  feast  of 
colour  to  eyes  weary  of  winter  grays  ;  luscious,  varied, 
and  plentiful  food  to  palates  dulled  by  salt  meat  and 
pease-pudding.  No  wonder  that  the  first  hint  of  the 
sun's  return  at  Christmas,  and  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  of  spring  at  May-day,  were  welcomed  with 
an  abandonment  of  joy  to  which  our  modern  festivals 
offer  but  a  pale  parallel.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
whether,  even  in  the  far-off  days  when  the  ceremonies 
possessed  the  highest  religious  sanction  and  significance, 
they  were  celebrated  with  a  finer  exuberance  than  in 
the  comparatively  recent  times  when  this  country  was 
still  "  merrie  England. "  Fetching  in  the  May  or 
going  a-Maying  was  then  a  most  important  festival, 


CHAP,  vin  MAY  CELEBRATIONS  145 

in  which  people  of  all  ranks  took  part.  Henry  VIII. 
himself  rode  a-Maying  with  Queen  Katharine  and  his 
Court.  Every  village  had  its  May-pole,  and  the  first 
of  May  was  everywhere  "the  maddest,  merriest  day 
of  all  the  glad  New  Year."  The  celebration  was 
recognised  by  the  Roman  Church,  the  note  for  the 
3Oth  of  April  in  an  old  Calendar  being,  "The  boys  go 
out  and  seek  May-trees.-"  ]  Chaucer  represents  the 
whole  Court  as  going  into  the  fields  "  on  May -day 
when  the  lark  begins  to  rise  "- 

To  fetch  the  floures  fresh  and  branch  and  blome. 
And  namely  hawthorne  brought  both  page  and  grome, 
With  freshe  garlants  party  blew  and  white, 
And  than  rejoysen  in  their  great  delight.2 

The  poet  makes  the  whole  Court  pelt  each  other 
with  flowers,  "  the  primerose,  the  violete  and  the  gold," 
but  the  general  custom  was  to  bring  home  the  branches 
and  flowers  as  an  adornment  for  the  house.  Even  the 
barns  and  the  cow-byres  were  carefully  decorated,  long 
after  the  primitive  intention  of  the  ceremony  had  been 
forgotten,  and  it  had  degenerated  into  a  licensed 
opportunity  for  revelry  and  love-making. 

The  two  aspects  of  the  celebration,  the  decorative 
and  the  amatory,  are  charmingly  illustrated  in  this  lyric 
of  Herrick's  : — 

Come,  my  Corinna,  come ;  and  coming  mark 
How  each  field  turns  a  street,  each  street  a  park, 

Made  green  and  trimmed  with  trees  :  see  how 

Devotion  gives  each  house  a  bough 

Or  branch  :  each  porch,  each  door  ere  this 

An  ark,  a  tabernacle  is, 
Made  up  of  white-thorn  neatly  interwove, 
As  if  here  were  those  cooler  shades  of  love. 
Can  such  delights  be  in  the  street 

And  open  fields  .and  we  not  see't  ? 

1  Brand's  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  217.  2  Court  of  Love,  vv.  1431.35, 

L 


146  THE  SACRED   TREE  CHAP. 

Come,  we'll  abroad ;  and  let's  obey 

The  proclamation  made  for  May : 
And  sin  no  more,  as  we  have  done  by  staying ; 
But,  my  Corinna,  come,  let's  go  a-Maying. 

The  lover  of  old  customs  owes  little  to  the  Puritans, 
for  they  did  their  best  to  root  them  out,  but  he  is 
certainly  indebted  to  them  incidentally  for  some 
valuable  evidence  as  to  those  same  customs,  not  other- 
wise attainable.  Stubbs,  a  Puritan  writer  of  the  time 
of  Elizabeth,  thus  describes  the  setting  up  of  the  May- 
pole in  his  time  : — "  But  their  cheefest  Jewell  they 
bring  from  thence  (the  woods)  in  their  Maie  Poole, 
whiche  they  bring  home  writh  greate  veneration  as 
thus  :  They  have  twentie  or  fourtie  yoke  of  oxen, 
every  oxe  havyng  a  sweete  nosegaie  of  flowers  tyed 
on  the  tippe  of  his  homes,  and  these  oxen  drawe  home 
this  Maie  poole  (this  stinckyng  idoll  rather)  which  is 
covered  all  over  with  flowers  and  hearbes,  bounde 
rounde  aboute  with  stringes,  from  top  to  bottome,  and 
sometimes  painted  with  variable  colours,  with  twoo  or 
three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  followyng  it 
with  greate  devotion.  And  thus  beyng  reared  up  with 
handkercheifes  and  flagges  streamyng  on  the  toppe, 
they  strawe  the  grounde  aboute,  binde  greene  boughes 
about  it,  sett  up  sommer-haules,  bowers,  and  arbours 
hard  by  it.  And  then  fall  they  to  banquet  and  feast, 
to  leape  and  daunce  aboute  it,  as  the  Heathen  people 
did  at  the  dedication  of  their  idolles,  whereof  this  is  a 
perfect  patterne,  or  rather  the  thyng  itself."1 

"  What  adoe  make  our  yong  men  at  the  time  of 
May?"  cries  another  Puritan  writer.  "  Do  they  not 
use  night-watchings  to  rob  and  steale  young  trees  out 
of  other  men's  grounde,  and  bring  them  home  into 

1  Anatomie  of  Abtises  (1585),  p.  94. 


vni  MA  Y  CELEBRA  TIONS  1 47 

their  parishe,  with  minstrels  playing  before  :  and  when 
they  have  set  it  up  they  will  decke  it  with  floures  and 
garlands  and  daunce  rounde  (men  and  women  togither, 
moste  unseemley  and  intolerable,  as  I  have  proved 
before)  about  the  tree,  like  unto  the  children  of  Israeli 
that  daunced  about  the  golden  calfe  that  they  had 
setup."1 

Thomas  Hall,  another  author  of  the  same  class, 
was  also  moved  to  eloquence  on  the  subject:  "Had 
this  rudeness  been  acted  only  in  some  ignorant  and 
obscure  parts  of  the  land  I  had  been  silent ;  but  when 
I  perceived  that  the  complaints  were  general  from  all 
parts  of  the  land,  and  that  even  in  Cheapside  itself  the 
rude  rabble  had  set  up  this  ensign  of  profaneness,  and 
had  put  the  Lord  Mayor  to  the  trouble  of  seeing  it 
pulled  down,  I  could  not,  out  of  my  dearest  respects 
and  tender  compassion  to  the  land  of  my  nativity, 
and  for  the  prevention  of  like  disorders  (if  possible) 
for  the  future,  but  put  pen  to  paper,  and  discover 
the  sinful  use  and  vile  profaneness  that  attend  such 
misrule."2 

As  every  one  knows,  the  Puritans  had  their  will 
of  the  May-poles,  and  the  Long  Parliament  in  April 
1644  decreed  their  removal  as  "a  heathenish  vanity, 
generally  abused  to  superstition  and  wickednesse." 
They  were  indeed  reinstated  after  the  Restoration 
and  the  old  festivities  revived,  but  the  Puritan  epoch 
had  left  its  mark  upon  the  spirit  of  the  people,  and 
May-day  was  never  again  quite  what  it  had  been,  so 
that  the  following  lament  by  a  writer  of  Cromwell's 
time  was  not  quite  out  of  date  even  when  King  Charles 
had  again  come  to  his  own  :— 

1  J.  Northbrooke,  Treatise  wherein       (1577),  p.  140. 
Dicing,  Dauncing,  etc.,   are  Reproved  2  Brand's  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  244. 


I48  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

Happy  the  age  and  harmlesse  were  the  dayes 
(For  then  true  love  and  amity  was  found) 
When  every  village  did  a  May-pole  raise, 
And  Whitsun-ales  and  May-games  did  abound, 
And  all  the  lusty  yonkers  in  a  rout 
With  merry  lasses  daunc'd  the  rod  about. 
Then  Friendship  to  their  banquets  bid  the  guests 
And  poor  men  far'd  the  better  for  their  feasts. 

But  since  the  Summer  poles  were  overthrown, 
And  all  good  sports  and  merriments  decayed, 
How  times  and  men  are  chang'd  so  well  is  knowne, 
It  were  but  labour  lost  if  more  were  said. 

In  England  the  once  universal  joy-making  on  the 
first  of  May  has  dwindled  into  a  mere  eleemosynary 
device,  and  every  year  takes  away  something  even  from 
this  poor  survival.  We  are  only  reminded  of  the  day 
in  London  by  here  and  there  a  peripatetic  Jack-in- 
the-Green  with  his  retinue  of  begging  clowns,  by  the 
gay  ribbons  on  a  few  draught  horses,  and  by  the  news- 
paper reports  of  the  election  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  May- 
queen  at  Whitelands  College.  But  in  many  old-world 
towns  and  villages  throughout  the  country  the  children 
still  carry  round  wands,  with  bunches  of  flowers  tied 
to  them,  or  garlands,  consisting  of  a  little  bower 
fashioned  out  of  two  crossed  hoops,  hidden  in  flowers, 
with  a  doll  seated  in  the  centre.  The  obvious  inten- 
tion of  this  pretty  custom  is  the  collection  of  coppers, 
which  no  one  will  grudge.  It  is,  so  to  say,  a  religious 
ceremony,  whereof  only  the  collection  has  survived,  as 
the  following  old  rhyme  sufficiently  illustrates  :— 

Gentlemen  and  ladies  ! 

We  wish  you  happy  May ; 

We've  come  to  show  our  garlands, 

Because  it  is  May-day ; 

Come,  kiss  my  face,  and  smell  my  mace, 

And  give  the  lord  and  lady  something.1 

1  Notes  and  Queries,  3rd  ser.  vol.  vii.  p.  425. 


viii  MAY  CELEBRATIONS  149 

In  place  of  the  final  couplet  it  was  sometimes  the 
custom  of  one  of  the  bearers  to  say,  "  Please  to  handsel 
the  lord  and  lady's  purse." 

The  practice  once  current  in  the  North  of  England 
of  going  into  the  woods  on  the  first  of  May,  "when 
the  day  begins  to  break,"  and  bringing  home  "knots 
of  flowers  and  buds  and  garlands  gay "  wherewith  to 
adorn  the  windows  and  doors  of  the  houses  at  sunrise, 
is  illustrated  in  the  following  doggrel,  which  used  to 
be  sung  in  the  streets  of  Newcastle-on-Tyne:1- 

Rise  up,  maidens,  fie  for  shame  ! 

For  I've  been  four  long  miles  from  hame ; 

I've  been  gathering  my  garland  gay, 

Rise  up,  fair  maids,  and  take  in  your  May. 

It  now  remains  to  trace  back  these  ceremonies — 
these  survivals — to  their  origin,  and  to  show  how  once 
they  were  the  essential  outcome  of  a  living  creed,  and 
had  a  serious,  and,  so  to  speak,  sacramental  significance." 
The  May-day  celebrations  combined  three  different 
usages.  First,  the  bringing  in  of  the  May  and  the 
decoration  of  the  homestead.  Secondly,  the  planting 
of  the  May-pole  and  the  dancing  around  it.  Thirdly, 
the  selection  of  some  youth  or  maiden  as  King  or 
Queen  of  the  May. 

(i)  The  custom  of  going  to  the  woods  to  fetch  in 
the  May  is  not  by  any  means  peculiar  to  England.  It 
was  until  recently  very  general  throughout  Europe, 
and  still  survives  in  many  districts,  though  sometimes 
Whitsuntide  or  Midsummer  is  the  date  chosen  for  the 
ceremony.  This  wide  distribution  at  once  stamps  it 
as  an  ancient  observance,  and  indeed  it  was  already 
represented  as  such  so  long  ago  as  the  thirteenth 

1   Brand's  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  219.  '2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  315. 


150  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

century.1  In  some  districts  the  branches  that  were 
brought  in  were  fastened  over  the  house  door  or  upon 
the  roof,  or  planted  in  front  of  the  cattle  stalls,  a 
separate  bush  being  attached  for  each  head  of  cattle. 
Here  the  acknowledged  purpose  was  to  make  the  cows 
good  milkers.  "They  fancy,"  says  a  writer  on  the 
manners  of  the  Irish,  ''that  a  green  bough  fastened  on 
May-day  against  the  house  will  produce  plenty  of  milk 
that  summer. ":  In  other  districts  the  May-bushes 
were  decorated  with  nosegays  and  ribbons  and  carried 
in  solemn  procession  from  house  to  house,  the  bearers 
singing  a  song  and  collecting  their  recompense  in  a 
basket.  In  some  parts  of  Sweden  on  May-day  eve 
boys  still  go  round  at  the  heels  of  the  village  fiddler, 
each  with  a  bunch  of  freshly-gathered  birch-twigs, 
singing  songs  in  which  fine  weather,  good  harvests,  and 
other  blessings  are  entreated.  At  every  cottage  where 
they  are  duly  compensated  for  their  pains  they  adorn 
the  door  with  one  of  their  birch-sprays.  In  Stockholm 
on  St.  John's  eve  miniature  May-poles,  known  as  Maj- 
stanger,  are  sold  by  the  thousand.3  In  Russia  the 
custom  of  decking  the  houses  with  branches  at  Whit- 
suntide is  universal.4  Similar  instances  might  be 
multiplied  indefinitely. 

Much  light  has  been  thrown  on  these  May-day 
ceremonies  by  the  study  of  many  cognate  observances 
met  with  amongst  different  nations  and  at  different 
periods.  In  Western  Germany  and  over  the  greater 
part  of  France  it  is  customary  at  harvest- time  to 
select  a  green  sapling  or  branch,  adorn  it  with  flowers, 
ribbons,  and  coloured  paper,  and  hang  it  with  harvest 
fruits,  eggs,  cakes,  and  sweetmeats,  and  sometimes 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  160.  3  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  78. 

"  Camden,      quoted      in      Brand's  4  Ibid.  p.  77. 

Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 


YIII  MA  Y  CELEBRA  TIONS  1 5 1 

even  with  sausages,  rolls  of  tobacco,  rings,  needles,  etc. 
Often  bottles  of  wine  or  beer  are  also  suspended  to  it. 
It  is  known  as  the  May,  harvest- May,  bouqiiet  de  la 
moisson,  and  it  is  frequently  set  up  in  the  field  which 
is  in  process  of  cutting.  When  the  reaping  is  over  it 
is  brought  home  on  the  last  sheaf  or  on  the  last  load, 
or  is  borne  by  a  harvestman  seated  on  the  waggon  or 
walking  before  it.  On  its  arrival  at  the  homestead  it 
is  solemnly  welcomed  by  the  farmer,  and  attached  to 
some  conspicuous  spot  on  the  barn  or  house.  Here  it 
remains  for  a  year  until  replaced  by  its  successor. 
Another  feature  of  the  ceremony,  which  is  no  doubt  of 
the  nature  of  a  rain  charm,  consists  in  the  drenching  of 
the  May  and  its  bearers  with  water,  or  in  the  sprinkling 
of  them  with  wine.  A  variant  of  this  observance  is 
met  with  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  where  at  some  date 
after  harvest  the  farmer  causes  a  lofty  pole,  dressed 
with  ribbons  and  hung  with  handkerchiefs,  articles  of 
clothing,  cakes,  fruit,  etc.,  to  be  erected  in  his  field. 
The  labourers  then  climb  or  race  for  the  prizes.1 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  antiquity  of 
these  customs.  Mannhardt,  who  has  carefully  studied 
the  subject,  finds  a  most  remarkable  similarity  between 
the  harvest  festivals  of  ancient  Greece  and  those  of 
modern  Europe.  The  eiresione  or  harvest-bush  of  the 
Greeks,  which  is  reproduced  "with  almost  photographic 
exactness"  in  the  harvest -May  above  described,2 
was  a  branch  of  olive  or  laurel,  bound  with  red  and 
white  wool,  and  hung  with  ribbons,  the  finest  harvest- 
fruits,  cakes,  and  jars  of  honey,  oil,  and  wine.  It  was 
carried  in  solemn  procession  with  choral  songs,  at  the 
Thargelia  or  feast  of  first-fruits  in  the  late  spring,  and 
at  the  Pyanepsia  or  true  harvest-festival  in  the  early 

1  Mannhardt  II.  p.  212.  2  Ibid.  p.  214. 


152  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

autumn,  its  destination  at  the  former  festival  being  the 
temple  of  Athena  Polias,  at  the  latter  that  of  Apollo. 
It  was  planted  before  the  door  of  the  temple,  the 
contents  of  the  jars  attached  to  it  were  poured  over  it, 
and  the  following  lines  were  sung:  " Eiresione  brings 
figs  and  plump  loaves,  and  honey  in  jars,  and  oil 
wherewith  to  anoint  yourself,  and  cups  of  wine  un- 
watered,  that  you  may  drink  yourself  to  sleep."  In 
addition  to  this  official  ceremony  each  landowner  who 
grew  corn  and  fruit  held  his  own  festival,  the  eiresione 
in  that  case  being  suspended  or  fastened  before  his 
house-door,  or  placed  inside  the  house  beside  the 
ancestral  images.  There  it  remained  for  a  twelve- 
month, until  on  the  bringing  home  of  the  next  year's 
branch  it  was  taken  down  and  burnt.  It  was  to 
this  private  eiresione  that  the  familiar  passages  in 
Aristophanes  allude.  Demos  hearing  a  noise  at  his 
front  door,  jumps  to  the  conclusion  that  a  street 
brawl  is  imminent :  "  Who's  making  that  hullaballoo  ?  " 
he  cries  ;  "  away  from  my  door.  What,  'will  ye  tear 
down  my  eiresione  ?"  His  dread  is  that  his  harvest- 
branch  will  be  requisitioned  as  a  weapon  of  offence,  a 
possible  application  of  it  also  alluded  to  by  the  poet  in 
another  passage.3  Elsewhere  it  is  jestingly  said  of  a 
dried-up  old  woman,  that  if  a  spark  fell  on  her,  she 
would  burn  up  like  an  old  eiresione?  a  comparison 
which  throws  light  on  the  mode  of  disposing  of  the 
last  year's  branch. 

The  Oschophoria,  or  carrying  in  procession  of  the 
oschos,  a  vine-branch  with  the  ripe  grapes  upon  it, 
was  another  of  the  Athenian  harvest  festivals,  and 
is  interesting  in  the  present  connection  from  its  being 

1  Botticher,  op.  cit.  p.  393.  3    Wasps,  v.  398. 

2  Knights,  v.  729.  4  Plutus,  v.  1054. 


vin  MA  Y  CELEBRA  TIONS  1 5  3 

associated,  like  some  modern  harvest  observances, 
with  a  racing  competition. 

These  festivals,  which  were  probably  of  prehistoric 
origin,  were  in  classical  times  sanctified  for  the  popular 
mind  by  being  linked  with  and  accounted  for  by  some 
legendary  event  which  appealed  to  the  patriotic  senti- 
ment. But  in  spite  of  this  they  would  appear  in 
course  of  time  to  have  undergone  something  of  the 
same  debasement  as  our  own  May  observances,  and 
degenerated  into  a  begging  procession  from  door  to 
door.  At  any  rate  the  word  eiresione,  originally 
applied  to  the  festival  hymn  as  well  as  to  the  branch, 
became  in  later  times  the  general  name  for  all  begging- 
songs.  Initially,  however,  the  eiresione  was,  no  doubt, 
a  symbolical  representation  of  the  genius  of  vegetation, 
and  as  such  was  addressed  as  a  person.1 

Traced  to  its  remote  origin,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  ceremony  of  bringing  in  the  May 
arose  from  a  similar  process  of  reasoning.  The  gods 
or  spirits  of  those  far-off  times  had  their  habitation, 
or  at  least  manifested  their  activity,  in  the  tree.  The 
gifts  of  rain  and  sunshine  were  in  their  hands.  They 
made  the  crops  to  grow,  the  herds  to  multiply,  and 
women  to  give  increase.  According  to  Aeneas  Sylvius, 
the  Lithuanians  believed  that  their  sacred  groves 
were  the  house  of  the  god  who  gave  them  rain  and 
sunshine.2  In  Circassia  the  pear-tree  is  still  regarded 
as  the  protector  of  cattle,  and  in  the  autumn  is  cut 
down,  carried  home,  and  worshipped  as  a  god.3  In 
many  countries  trees  are  held  to  have  the  power  of 
helping  women  in  childbirth.4  It  was  therefore  no 
more  unnatural  for  an  ignorant  peasantry  to  believe 

1  Mannhardt  II.  p.  257.  3  Frazer,  op.  clt.  vol.  i.  p.  73. 

3  Aeneas  Sylvius,  Opera  (Bale,  1571),  4  Ibid.  p.  74. 

p.  418. 


154  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

that  the  same  power  and  influence  existed  in  the  cut 
branches  of  trees  than  it  is  for  a  modern  uncultured 
Catholic  to  expect  help  from  sacred  relics.  In 
each  case  the  process  of  thought  is  the  same. 
Eventually  the  ceremony  of  carrying  the  branch 
round  the  village,  the  primitive  purpose  of  which 
was  to  make  each  house  a  sharer  in  the  benevolent 
offices  of  the  tree-spirit,  degenerated  into  a  meaning- 
less observance,  a  pretext  for  indulging  in  festivities 
and  levying  contributions.  But  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  securing  of  fertility  and  abundance, 
together  with  the  supply  of  rain  and  sunshine  neces- 
sary thereto,  was  originally  the  root-idea  of  the  world- 
wide spring  observances. 

.          (2)  The  custom   of  setting  up   the   May-pole  on 

i   the  village  green  had,  no  doubt,  a  similar  genesis.      It 

I  represented   for   the    community  what    the    May-day 

I  decoration  of  the    house  represented  for  the  family. 

In  parts  of  Europe  the  pole  is  sometimes  planted  in 

front  of  the  Mayor's  or  Burgomaster's  house.1     The 

intention,  evidently,  was  to  bring  to  the  village  as  a 

whole  the  newly-quickened  generative  spirit  resident 

in  the  woods.     The  custom  of  cutting  down  a  tree,    , 

decorating  it  with  garlands  and  ribbons,  re-erecting  it, 

and  feting  it  with  dance  and  song,  has  prevailed  in 

almost  every  country  in  the  world.      In  some  instances 

it  is  further  dressed  as  a  mortal,  or  a  human  image  is 

attached  to  it,  as  in  the  Attis  rites,  testifying  to  the 

anthropomorphic  conception  of  the  tree-spirit.      The 

I  doll  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  children's  May  garlands 

would  seem  to  be  a  survival  of  this  custom.     The  same 

feature  of  the  celebration  is  illustrated  most  clearly  in 

the  Greek  festival  of  the  little  Daedala,  which  may  be 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  167. 


vin  MAY  CELEBRA TIONS  1 5 5 

regarded  as  "  a  classical  equivalent  of  an  English  May- 
day in  the  olden  time."  l  The  festival  was  inaugurated 
in  an  ancient  oak-forest.  Cooked  meat  was  placed 
upon  the  ground  and  the  movements  of  the  birds 
which  came  to  feed  upon  it  were  carefully  observed. 
The  tree  upon  which  a  bird  was  first  observed  to  alight 
with  the  meat  in  its  bill  was  cut  down,  carved  into  the  > 
image  of  a  woman,  and  dressed  as  a  bride.  It  was 
then  placed  upon  a  cart  and  drawn  in  procession  with 
singing  and  dancing.  It  must  be  added  that  Mr. 
Farnell  regards  this  festival  as  a  survival  from  pre- 
historic times  of  the  processional  ceremony  of  the 
"  sacred  marriage "  between  Zeus  and  Hera,  which 
may  possibly  have  been  symbolical  of  the  marriage  of 
earth  and  heaven  in  spring.2 

In  the  case  of  pur  own  May-pole,  it  was  originally, 
no  doubt,  the  custom  to  erect  a  fresh  tree  every  year, 
in  order  that  the  newly-awakened  energy  of  the  forest 
might  be  communicated  to  the  village,  and  in  many 
parts  this  feature  of  the  custom  appears  to  have  sur- 
vived, as  we  may  gather  from  the  Puritan  accounts 
above  quoted.  Elsewhere,  as  the  intention  of  the 
ceremony  was  lost  sight  of,  a  permanent  May-pole 
was  substituted  for  the  annual  tree,  and  was  converted 
on  May-day,  by  means  of  garlands  and  flowers,  into 
the  semblance  of  a  living  growth.  The  May-tree  of 
the  German  village,  for  instance,  is  a  permanent  con- 
struction, made  up  of  several  tall  trunks.3  On  May- 
day, cakes,  sausages,  eggs,  and  other  desirable  things 
are  hung  upon  it,  the  villagers  dance  around  it,  and 
the  young  men  climb  it  to  secure  its  gifts.  In  some 
parts  the  May-pole  is  surmounted  by  a  cross,  and  the 

1  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  100.  2  Farnell,-*?/.  cit.  vol.  i.  pp.  185,  189. 

3  Mannhardt  I.  p.  169. 


156  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

symbol  of  a  dead  faith  is  consecrated  by  that  of  a 
living  one. 

Yet  the  old  faith  long  left  its  traces  in  several 
quaint  observances.  Amongst  the  Wends  of  the  Elbe 
the  cattle  were  driven  every  year  round  the  village 
tree.  The  bride  imported  from  another  village  must 
dance  around  it  and  pay  it  her  footing.  The  wounded 
villager  also  gave  it  money  and  got  himself  healed  by 
rubbing  himself  against  it.1  Such  usages  are  only  in- 
telligible on  the  theory  that  the  tree  was  once  seriously 
believed  to  be  the  local  habitation  of  a  spirit,  who  con- 
centrated in  himself  the  marvellous  fruitfulness  and 
healing  beneficence  of  nature. 

The  custom  so  often  met  with  on  the  Continent 2 
of  attaching  a  young  sapling  or  a  branch  to  the  roof 
of  a  house  newly  built,  or  in  process  of  erection,  is 
another  survival,  descended,  no  doubt,  from  the 
ancient  belief  in  the  benign  influence  of  the  tree- 
inhabiting  spirit.  In  some  places  it  is  usual  to 
decorate  the  bough  with  flowers,  ribbons,  and  strings 
of  eggs,  which  last  are  clearly  intended  to  symbolise 
the  life-giving  power  assumed  to  be  the  spirit's  special 
attribute. 

(3)  But  the  conception  which  underlay  and  actuated 
the  May  celebrations  is  illustrated  still  more  clearly  by 
their  third  feature — the  choice  of  a  youth  or  maiden, 
or  both,  to  personify  the  reawakened  and  rejoicing 
nature.  A  great  deal  of  evidence  on  this  subject 
has  been  collected  by  Mannhardt  and  Frazer,  which 
can  only  be  briefly  summarised  here.  In  the  case  of 
the  begging  processions  with  May -trees  or  May- 
boughs  from  door  to  door,  it  was  once  really  believed 
that  the  good  genius  of  growth  was  present  unseen  in 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  174.  2  Ibid.  p.  218. 


viii  MA  Y  CELEBRA  TIONS  1 57 

» __ 

the  bough.  But  often  he  was  represented  in  addition 
by  a  man  dressed  in  green  leaves  and  flowers,  or  by  a 
girl  similarly  adorned,  who  being  looked  upon  as  an 
actual  representative  of  the  spirit  of  vegetation,  was 
supposed  to  produce  the  same  beneficial  effects  on  the 
fowls,  the  fruit-trees,  and  the  crops  as  the  presence  of 
the  deity  himself.  "  The  names  May,  Father  May, 
May  Lady,  Queen  of  the  May,  by  which  the  anthro- 
pomorphic spirit  of  vegetation  is  often  denoted,  show 
that  the  conception  of  the  spirit  of  vegetation  is  blent 
with  a  personification  of  the  season  at  which  his 
powers  are  most  strikingly  manifested."1 

In  some  cases  the  human  representative  of  the 
tree  -  spirit  goes  hand  in  hand  with  his  vegetable 
representative,  the  tree  or  branch.  The  former  may 
be  merely  a  doll  or  puppet,  as  in  the  Lady  of  the  May 
of  our  own  May  garlands,  or  it  may  be  a  chosen  youth 
or  girl,  who  carries  a  miniature  May-tree,  or  is  throned 
beside  the  May-pole,  or  dances  around  it,  clad  in  leafy 
garments.  Sometimes  the  chief  actor  in  the  ceremony 
is  ducked  in  a  pond  or  drenched  with  water,  or,  as  is 
still  the  case  in  some  parts  of  Ireland,  carries  a  pail  of 
water  and  a  mop  to  distribute  its  contents,  with  the 
idea  of  ensuring  rain  by  a  sort  of  sympathetic  magic. 
In  other  cases  the  tree  disappears  from  the  celebration, 
and  the  whole  burden  of  representing  its  indwelling 
spirit  falls  upon  its  human  substitute,  who  in  such 
event  is  almost  always  swathed  in  leaves  or  'flowers. 
The  Green  George  of  Carinthia2  and  our  own  Jack- 
in-the-Green  are  instances  of  this  custom.  The  pence 
collected  no  doubt  represent  what  was  once  a  willing 
contribution  for  services  presumably  useful  and  worthy 
of  reward. 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  315.  \  Ibid.  p.  313. 


158  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

The  custom  of  electing  a  King  or  Queen  of  the 
May  is  very  general  throughout  Europe.1  The  original 
purpose  was,  no  doubt,  to  personify  the  regal  character 
of  the  spirit  who  ruled  the  woods,  but  in  other  cases 
e|L  the  representative  is  termed  a  Bridegroom  or  Bride, 
emphasising  another  attribute  of  the  deity.  In  England 
the  crowning  of  the  May-queen  closed  the  long  day's 
ceremonies,  and  the  young  people  who  had  been  up 
before  sunrise  to  bring  in  the  May,  and  had  danced  all 
day  upon  the  village  green,  ended  their  pleasant  labours 
at  sundown  with  this  graceful  observance. 

In  some  instances  two  representatives  of  the  spirit 
of  vegetation  were  chosen,  under  the  names  of  King 
and  Queen,  or  Prince  and  Princess,  or  Lord  and  Lady. 
The  King  and  Queen  are  mentioned  in  an  English 
document  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  there  is 
evidence  to  show  that  Robin  Hood  and  Maid  Marian 
were  originally  representatives  of  the  vegetation  spirit, 
for  the  former  is  spoken  of  in  an  old  book  of  1576  as 
King  of  the  May,  while  Marian  or  May- Marian,  as  she 
was  sometimes  called,  was  certainly  a  Queen  of  May, 
and  as  such  was  represented  wearing  a  golden  crown 
and  carrying  in  her  hand  a  red  pink,  the  emblem 
of  summer.2 

At  the  time  when  we  first  encounter  them  in 
history  these  celebrations  had  already  lost  their 
religious  significance  and  passed  into  graceful  observ- 
ances, the  excuse  for  innocent  mirth.  But  if  we  trace 
them  back  into  the  gloom  in  which  they  arose  we 
come  upon  evidence  which  seems  to  show  that  they 
were  not  always  so  innocent.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  in  very  early  times  the  human  representative  of 

1  Mannhardt  I.  pp.  341  et  seq. 
2  Brand's  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  pp.  253-261. 


vui  r  MAY  CELEBRATIONS  159 

the  spirit  of  vegetation  was  actually  sacrificed,  in  order 
that  the  divine  spirit  incarnate  in  him  might  be 
transferred  in  unabated  vigour  to  his  successor,1  just 
as  the  old  May-pole  was  destroyed  and  a  new  one  set 
up  in  its  place.  Herein  was  typified  the  annual  death 
and  resurrection  of  the  spirit  of  vegetation,  a  con- 
ception which  has  given  rise  to  many  celebrations,  not 
always  free  from  bloodshed,  in  different  parts  of  the 
world.  The  rites  by  which  in  Egypt  and  Western 
Asia  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Osiris,  Adonis, 
Tammuz,  Attis,  and  Dionysus  were  solemnised  find 
their  parallels  not  only  in  the  barbarous  usages  once 
current  in  Mexico,  but  also  in  certain  spring  and 
summer  celebrations  of  the  peasants  of  Europe. 

The  Mexican  god  of  the  plant- world  was  Huitzilo- 
pochtli,  and  at  the  feast  of  Teteionan,  mother  of  the 
gods,  a  woman  clothed  as  the  goddess  was  sacrificed, 
her  head  cut  off,  and  her  skin  used  to  dress  a  youth, 
who  was  then  taken  to  the  god's  temple,  accompanied 
by  a  large  crowd  of  worshippers.2  That  is  to  say,  the 
old  embodiment  of  plant  life  was  killed,  and  its  per- 
sonality, typified  by  the  skin,  was  given  to  a  youthful 
successor,  who,  doubtless,  was  sacrificed  in  his  turn 
when  it  was  considered  necessary  for  the  health  of 
the  plant-world. 

In  some  modern  European  spring  observances 
the  actual  putting  to  death  of  the  spirit  of  vegeta- 
tion survives  in  symbol.  "  In  Lower  Bavaria,  the 
Whitsuntide  representative  of  the  tree  -  spirit  — 
the  Pfmgstl,  as  he  is  called  —  was  clad  from  top  to 
toe  in  leaves  and  flowers.  On  his  head  he  wore  a 
high  pointed  cap,  the  ends  of  which  rested  on  his  S/ 
shoulders,  only  two  holes  being  left  for  his  eyes.  The 

1  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  240.  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  360. 


160  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

cap  was  covered  with  water  -  flowers  and  surmounted 
with  a  nosegay  of  peonies.  The  sleeves  of  his  coat 
were  also  made  of  water-plants,  and  the  rest  of  his 
body  was  enveloped  in  alder  and  hazel  leaves.  On 
each  side  of  him  marched  a  boy,  holding  up  one  of  the 
Pfingstl's  arms.  These  two  boys  carried  drawn 
swords,  and  so  did  most  of  the  others  who  formed  the 
procession.  They  stopped  at  every  house  where  they 
hoped  to  receive  a  present,  and  the  people  in  hiding 
soused  the  leaf-clad  boy  with  water.  All  rejoiced 
when  he  was  well  drenched.  Finally  he  waded  into 
the  brook  up  to  his  middle,  whereupon  one  of  the 
boys,  standing  on  the  bridge,  pretended  to  cut  off  his 
head."  l 

"At  Wurmlingen  in  Swabia  a  score  of  young 
fellows  dress  themselves  on  Whit-Monday  in  white 
shirts  and  white  trousers  with  red  scarves  round  their 
waists,  and  swords  hanging  from  the  scarves.  They 
ride  on  horseback  into  the  wood,  led  by  two  trumpeters 
blowing  their  trumpets.  In  the  wood  they  cut  down 
leafy  oak  branches,  in  which  they  envelope  from  head 
to  foot  him  who  was  the  last  of  their  number  to  ride 
out  of  the  village.  His  legs,  however,  are  encased 
separately,  so  that  he  may  be  able  to  mount  his  horse 
again.  Further,  they  give  him  a  long  artificial  neck, 
with  an  artificial  head  and  a  false  face  on  the  top  of  it. 
Then  a  May-tree  is  cut,  generally  an  aspen  or  beech 
about  ten  feet  high  ;  and  being  decked  with  coloured 
handkerchiefs  and  ribbons,  it  is  entrusted  to  a  special 
'  May-bearer.'  The  cavalcade  then  returns,  with 
music  and  song,  to  the  village.  Amongst  the  per- 
sonages who  figure  in  the  procession  are  a  Moorish 
king  with  a  sooty  face  and  crown  on  his  head,  a  Dr. 

1  Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  241. 


vni  MAY  CELEBRATIONS  161 

Iron-Beard,  a  corporal,  and  an  executioner.  They 
halt  on  the  village  green,  and  each  of  the  characters 
makes  a  speech  in  rhyme.  The  executioner  announces 
that  the  leaf-clad  man  has  been  condemned  to  death, 
and  cuts  off  his  false  head.  Then  the  riders  race  to 
the  May-tree,  which  has  been  set  up  a  little  way  off. 
The  first  man  who  succeeds  in  wrenching  it  from  the 
ground  as  he  gallops  past  keeps  it  with  all  its 
decorations.  The  ceremony  is  observed  every  second 
or  third  year."  l 

In  Saxony  and  Thuringia,  at  Whitsuntide,  the 
Wild  Man,  a  person  disguised  in  branches  and  moss, 
was  chased  through  the  woods.  On  being  overtaken 
he  was  shot  at  with  blank  cartridge  and  pretended  to 
fall  down  dead.  A  mock  doctor  then  bled  him  and  he 
soon  came  to  life  again.  The  rejoicing  people  placed 
him  in  a  waggon,  and  led  him  about  in  procession,  to 
receive  gifts  at  the  houses  of  the  village.2 

The  common  feature  in  all  these  apparently 
senseless  observances  is  the  symbolical  sacrifice  of  the 
human  representative  of  the  spirit  of  vegetation,  and 
they  drive  us  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  a  time 
when  the  victim  was  sacrificed  in  reality.  In  the  same 
way  the  custom  still  current  in  Belgium  and  French 
Flanders  at  the  summer  festival  of  drawing  in  pro- 
cession large  wicker  figures  enclosing  living  men, 
recalls  the  gigantic  images  of  ozier-work,  covered  with 
leaves,  in  which  the  Druids  confined  the  victims 
destined  for  their  fiery  sacrifices.3 

1   Frazer,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  p.  242.  2  Ibid.  vol.  i.  p.  243. 

3  Mannhardt  I.  p.  523. 


M 


CHAPTER    IX 

CHRISTMAS    OBSERVANCES 

IN  modern  times,  as  the  once  joyful  celebrations  of 
May-day  have  waned  the  festivities  of  Christmas- 
tide  have  undergone  increase  and  development.  The 
grosser  features  of  the  festival  have,  no  doubt,  been 
eliminated ;  the  mummers  and  the  lord  of  misrule 
have  for  the  most  part  gone  the  way  of  the  May- 
king,  but  all  the  more  graceful  and  orderly  observ- 
ances of  the  time  have  strengthened  their  hold  on  the 
popular  favour.  The  decoration  of  the  house  is  as 
usual  to-day  at  Christmas  as  it  once  was  at  May-day, 
and  the  Christmas-tree  has  stepped  into  the  place 
which  the  May-tree  once  held  in  the  affections  of  the 
young.  Yet  if  we  trace  these  Christmas  observances 
back  to  their  origin,  we  find  them  as  distinctively 
pagan  in  their  ancestry  as  the  festivities  of  May-day. 

We  owe  the  survival  of  many  pagan  customs 
largely  to  the  Roman  Church,  whose  settled  policy  it 
was  to  adapt  the  old  festal  rites  to  the  purposes  of  the 
new  faith,  and  to  divert  its  rude  converts  from  the 
riotous  festivities  of  their  unconverted  friends  by  offer- 
ing them  the  more  orderly  rejoicings  of  a  Christian 
holy  day.  Gregory  the  Great,  when  he  sent  his 
missionaries  to  Britain,  instructed  them  to  Christianise 


CHAP,  ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  163 

the  festivals  and  temples  of  the  heathen,  "  raising  their 
stubborn  minds  upwards  not  by  leaps,  but  step  by 
step."  And  Dr.  Tille,  in  his  learned  work  on  the 
German  Christmas,1  has  shown  what  pains  were  taken 
by  the  priesthood  to  transfer  to  their  own  feast  the 
rude  rejoicings  with  which  the  unconverted  Germans 
celebrated  their  great  festival  at  the  beginning  of  winter. 
The  same  transference  of  pre-Christian  usages  occurred 
in  Italy,  where  the  Christmas  festival,  first  definitely 
fixed  at  the  time  of  the  winter  solstice  by  Bishop 
Liberius,  A.D.  354, 2  inherited,  as  expressly  stated  by 
Polydore  Virgil,  several  of  the  features  of  the  great 
Roman  festival  of  the  Saturnalia,  held  about  the  same 
time.  This  festival  was  an  occasion  for  universal 
mirth  and  festivity.  Friends  visited  and  feasted  each 
other,  and  there  was  a  general  interchange  of  presents, 
the  objects  presented  consisting  usually  of  branches, 
wax  tapers,  and  clay  dolls.  The  stalls  were  laden 
with  gifts,  like  the  Christmas  shops  of  to-day.  One 
of  the  days  of  the  festival,  the  dies  juvenalis,  was 
devoted  to  children.  The  solstitial  character  of  the 
festival  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  another  of  its  days 
was  dedicated  by  the  Emperor  Aurelian  to  the  Persian 
sun-god,  Mithra  ;  and  Varro  states  that  the  clay  dolls, 
which  were  an  important  feature  of  the  celebration, 
represented  the  infant  sacrifices  once  made  to  a 
Phoenician  Baal  who  had  been  introduced  to  Rome 
under  the  name  of  Saturn  or  Cronos.3 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  clear  that  some  observ- 
ances familiar  to  us  at  Christmas — the  feasting,  the 
present  giving,  and  the  now  obsolete  mumming — have 
an  origin  which  is  lost  in  antiquity.  Other  customs, 

1  Alexander  Tille,  Die  Geschichte  der  3  J.   G.    Frazer  in  Encyclop.  Brit.y 
Deutschen  Weihnacht  (Leipzig,  1893).       9th  edition,  vol.  xxi.  p.  321. 

2  Ibid.  p.  2. 


1 64  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

too,  though  with  a  different  provenance,  have  an 
equally  venerable  ancestry.  The  use  of  mistletoe,  for 
instance,  is  without  doubt  a  direct  legacy  from  the 
Druids,  who  were  wont  at  the  time  of  the  solstices 
solemnly  to  place  upon  their  altars  the  mysterious 
branch,  into  which  it  was  thought  that  the  spirit  of  the 
tree  retreated  when  the  rest  of  the  leaves  had  fallen. 
This  practice,  strangely  enough,  survived  until  within 
comparatively  recent  years  in  a  ceremonial  practised 
at  York  Minster  and  some  other  northern  churches,1 
though  as  a  rule  the  introduction  of  the  mistletoe 
into  Christian  edifices  was  strongly  reprobated,  on  the 
score  that  it  was  a  heathen  emblem. 

The  practice  of  decorating  the  house  at  'the  New 
ear  with  holly  and  other  evergreens  was  also  a  pagan 
observance.  Dr.  Chandler  refers  to  it  as  a  Druidic 
custom,  the  intention  being  to  provide  the  sylvan 
spirits  with  a  shelter  to  which  they  might  repair,  "and 
remain  unnipped  with  frost  and  cold  winds,  until  a 
milder  season  had  renewed  the  foliage  of  their  darling 
abodes."  In  early  times  the  Church  made  a  stand 
against  this  use  of  evergreens  as  being  a  pagan 
custom,  but  the  interdict  was  not  persevered  in,  and 
later  on  we  find  the  decoration  of  the  churches  a  recog- 
nised practice,  the  note  for  Christmas  eve  in  the  old 
Calendar  being,  Templa  exornantur? 

The  observance,  however,  which  most  concerns  us 
here  is  that  of  the  Christmas-tree,  the  evolution  of 
which  furnishes  us  with  one  of  the  most  interesting 
chapters  in  the  history  of  religious  development.  To 
the  present  generation  the  Christmas-tree  appears  such 
an  essential  feature  of  the  festival,  as  celebrated  in  this 

1  W.   Stukeley,  Medallic  History  of          2  Brand's  Antiquities,  vol.  i.  p.  520. 
Carausius  (1757-59),  vol.  ii.   pp.  163,  3  Ibid.  pp.  519,  521. 

164. 


ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  165 

country,  that  many  will  be  surprised  to  hear  how 
recent  an  importation  it  is.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
Christmas-tree  was  practically  unknown  in  England 
until  it  was  introduced  by  the  late  Prince  Consort.1 
Even  in  Germany,  the  land  of  its  origin,  it  was  not 
universally  established  as  an  integral  part  of  the 
festival  until  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,2  and 
it  was  only  at  that  date  that  it  came  to  be  known  as 
the  "  Weihnachtsbaum  "  and  "  Christbaum."  3  Goethe 
in  1774  describes  it  as  adorned  with  wax  tapers, 
sweetmeats,  and  apples,  but  calls  it  simply  the  "deco- 
rated tree."  4  Schiller  in  1 789  finds  no  more  distinctive 
name  for  it  than  the  "green  tree."5  Since  that  time, 
or  rather  since  1830,  its  diffusion  throughout  the  world 
has  been  so  marvellously  rapid  that  there  is  nothing 
to  compare  with  it  in  the  whole  history  of  popular 
customs. 

In  Germany  the  Christmas-tree  can  be  traced  back 
more  or  less  in  its  present  form  to  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  when  an  unnamed  writer,  in 
some  extremely  fragmentary  notes,  tells  us  that  it  was 
the  custom  at  Strasburg  to  set  up  fir-trees  in  the 
houses  at  Christmas,  and  to  deck  them  with  roses  of 
coloured  paper,  apples,  etc.6  The  next  mention  of  it 
occurs  half  a  century  later  in  the  writings  of  Professor 
Dannhauer,  a  celebrated  theologian,  also  living  in 
Strasburg.7  "  Amongst  the  other  absurdities,"  he 
writes,  "  with  wrhich  men  are  often  more  busied  at 
Christmas  than  with  the  Word  of  God,  there  is  also  the 
Christmas  or  fir-tree,  which  they  erect  in  their  houses, 

1  Mannhardt  I.  p.  240.  6  Schiller     und     Lotte     (Stuttgart, 

2  Ibid.  p.  238.  1856),  p.  574. 

3  Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  264.  6  Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  258. 

4  Goethe,    Die   Leiden   des  jungen  7  Ibid.  p.  259. 
Werthers  (Am  20  December). 


1 66  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

hang  it  with  dolls  and  sweetmeats,  and  then  shake  it 
and  cause  it  to  shed  its  flowers.  I  know  not  the 
origin  of  the  custom,  it  is  a  child's  game.  .  .  .  Far 
better  were  it  to  lead  the  children  to  the  spiritual 
cedar,  Christ  Jesus."  The  reprobation  of  the  Stras- 
burg  preacher  was  echoed  by  other  divines,  and  to 
this  cause  probably  the  Christmas-tree  owed  its  slow 
diffusion  throughout  Germany.  The  theological  dis- 
like of  it,  however,  as  it  turned  out,  was  ill-advised,  for 
eventually  the  Christmas-tree  displaced  other  popular 
observances  of  a  far  less  innocent  nature. 

So  far  we  have  been  treading  historical  ground, 
but  in  tracing  the  Christmas-tree  still  farther  back  we 
have  only  inference  to  go  upon.  The  subject,  how- 
ever, has  been  carefully  worked  out  by  Dr.  Tille,1  and 
the  pedigree  which  he  traces  for  the  tree  is  a  most 
interesting  one.  His  argument  must  here  be  con- 
densed as  closely  as  possible.  The  Christmas-tree, 
with  its  lights,  its  artificial  flowers,  and  its  apples  and 
other  fruit,  is  presumably  connected  with  the  legend  of 
Christmas  flowering  trees,  which  was  very  familiar  to 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  of  which  the  English  myth  of 
the  Glastonbury  thorn  is  an  example.  The  origin  of 
the  legend  in  Germany  is  thus  explained  by  Dr.  Tille  : 
—It  is  not  unusual  when  the  season  is  mild  to  find  trees 
blossoming  in  November,  especially  the  cherry  and 
the  crab-tree.  For  the  old  German  peasant  the  New 
Year  began  with  the  great  slaughtering  feast  early  in 
November,  when  the  cattle  were  brought  in  from  the 
pastures,  and  all  the  superfluous  ones  were  butchered 
and  feasted  on  ;  the  winter  was  thus  counted  to  the 
New  Year,  like  the  eve  to  a  holy  day.  Hence  when 
trees  blossomed  late,  a  casual  connection  was  inevitably 

1  Tille,  op.  tit.  chap.  viii. 


ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  167 

traced  between  the  strange  phenomenon  and  the  New 
Year  feast  at  which  it  took  place.  On  the  introduction 
of  Christianity  the  feasts  of  St.  Martin,  St.  Andrew, 
and  St.  Nicholas  were  substituted  for  the  ancient 
festivals.  The  strange  blossoming  power  of  nature 
was  connected  with  St.  Andrew's  Day,  and  fruit-boughs 
severed  on  that  day  were  believed  by  the  people  to 
possess  particular  virtue.1  The  Mediaeval  Church, 
always  eager  to  enlist  popular  superstitions  in  its 
own  support,  set  itself  to  transfer  to  Christmas  the 
blossoming  tree  of  the  November  festival,  and  the 
legends  which  related  how  celebrated  magicians  like 
Albertus  Magnus,  Paracelsus,  and  Faustus  had  made 
for  themselves  a  summer  in  the  heart  of  winter  were 
incorporated  by  the  monks  into  the  lives  of  certain 
saints.2  The  belief  in  trees  that  blossomed  and  bore 
fruit  at  Christmas  was  widely  distributed  and  firmly 
held  amongst  the  people  in  the  later  Middle  Ages.  In 
the  German  literature  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries  many  instances  of  the  miraculous  fact  are 
circumstantially  recorded.3  A  writer  in  1430  relates 
that  "  not  far  from  Nuremburg  there  stood  a  wonderful 
tree.  Every  year,  in  the  coldest  season,  on  the  night 
of  Christ's  birth  this  tree  put  forth  blossoms  and 
apples  as  thick  as  a  man's  thumb.  This  in  the 
midst  of  deep  snow  and  in  the  teeth  of  cold  winds." 
In  a  MS.  letter  of  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  dated  1426, 
and  preserved  in  the  Hofbibliothek  at  Vienna,  the 
actual  blossoming  of  two  apple-trees  at  Christmas  is 
mentioned  as  an  acknowledged  fact,  and  we  find  a 
Protestant  preacher  giving  full  credence  to  the  belief 
nearly  a  couple  of  centuries  later. 

But  the  most  striking  instance  of  the  hold  which 

1   Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  220.  2  Ibid.  p.  221.  3  Ibid.  p.  226. 


1 68  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

such  legends  had  taken  on  the  popular  mind  is  to  be 
found  in  connection  with  our  own  miraculous  tree, 
the  Glastonbury  Thorn— 

The  winter  thorn 
Which  blossoms  at  Christmas,  mindful  of  our  Lord. 

This  tree,  which  was  the  object  of  such  veneration  in 
the  later  Middle  Ages  that  the  merchants  of  Bristol 
are  said  to  have  found  the  export  of  its  blossoms 
extremely  remunerative,  stood  upon  an  eminence  near 
the  town  of  Glastonbury.  The  legend  ran  that  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  who,  according  to  monkish  teaching, 
was  the  first  Christian  missionary  to  this  country,  one 
Christmas  eve  planted  his  staff  in  the  ground.  The 
staff,  which  years  previously  had  been  cut  from  a 
hawthorn-tree,  at  once  took  root  and  put  forth  leaves, 
and  by  the  next  day  was  in  full  blossom.  The  miracle 
was'  repeated  on  every  subsequent  Christmas- day. 
Even  after  the  Reformation  we  find  King  James  I. 
and  his  queen  and  other  persons  of  quality  giving 
large  sums  for  cuttings  from  the  tree,  which  were 
believed  to  have  the  same  miraculous  virtue  as  the 
parent  thorn,  and  even  in  the  following  reign  it  was 
customary  to  carry  a  branch  of  the  tree  in  procession 
and  present  it  to  the  king.  In  the  Civil  War  the 
original  tree  was  destroyed,  but  some  of  its  off-shoots 
survived,  one  especially  at  Quainton  in  Buckingham- 
shire, which  suddenly  sprang  into  fame  again  when 
the  new  style  was  introduced  into  the  Calendar  in 
1752,  and  the  people,  resenting  the  loss  of  their  eleven 
days,  appealed  from  the  decision  of  their  rulers  to  the 
higher  wisdom  of  the  miraculous  tree.  According  to 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1753,  about  two  thou- 
sand people  on  the  night  of  24th  December  1752  came 


ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  169 

with  lanthorns  and  candles  to  view  the  thorn-tree, 
"which  was  remembered  (this  year  only)  to  be  a  slip 
from  the  Glastonbury  thorn."  As  the  tree  remained 
bare  the  people  agreed  that  25th  December,  N.S., 
could  not  be  the  true  Christmas-day,  and  refused  to 
celebrate  it  as  such.  Their  excitement  was  intensified 
when  on  5th  January  the  tree  was  found  to  be  in  full 
bloom,  and  to  pacify  them  the  authorities  were  driven 
to  decree  that  the  old  Christmas-day  should  be  cele- 
brated as  well  as  the  new.  It  may  be  added  that  two 
thorn-trees  still  exist  near  the  ruins  of  Glastonbury 
Abbey,  which  blossom  during  the  winter,  and  are 
identified  by  Loudoun  with  a  variety  of  hawthorn,  the 
Crataegus  oxyacantha  praecox,  which  is  admittedly  a 
winter  flowerer.1 

There  is,  however,  as  Mannhardt- -points- out,2 
other  way  in  which  a  fruit- bearing  tree  became  popu- 
larly associated  with  Christmas.  The  ancient  Church 
had  devoted  the  day  before  Christmas -day  to  the 
memory  of  Adam  and  Eve,  and  it  was  customary  at 
Christmas  in  many  parts  of  the  Continent  to  give  a 
dramatic  representation  of  the  story  of  the  Creation 
and  Fall  in  connection  with  the  drama  of  the  Nativity. 
Hence  arose  the  Paradise-plays  which  were  familiar 
to  the  Middle  Ages  from  the  thirteenth  century  on- 
ward. The  well-known  legend  that  the  cross  of  Christ 
was  fashioned  from  a  tree  wrhich  had  sprung  from  a 
slip  of  the  Tree  of  Knowledge  served  as  a  link  between 
the  events  celebrated  so  closely  together,  the  Fall  and 
the  Birth  of  the  Redeemer,  and  gave  additional  signifi- 
cance to  the  scenery  of  the  Paradise-play,  consisting, 
as  it  usually  did,  of  trees,  or  sometimes  of  a  single 
tree,  laden  with  apples  and  decked  with  ribbons.  In 

1  Folkard,  op.  cit.  pp.  352,  353.  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  242. 


i?o  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

some  cases  the  tree  was  carried  on  to  the  stage  by  one 
of  the  actors.  In  this  way  the  apple -bearing  tree 
became  the  recognised  scenic  symbol  of  Christmas,  and 
naturally  connected  itself  with,  if  it  did  not  spring  out 
of,  the  very  early  legend  of  the  Church  that  all  nature 
blossomed  at  the  birth  of  Christ,  who  Himself,  accord- 
ing to  the  fanciful  symbolism  of  the  time,  was  the  very 
Tree  of  Life  which  had  once  stood  in  paradise. 

Another  popular  custom,  which  dates  back  to  the 
time  when  the  belief  in  the  beneficent  power  of  sylvan 
deities  was  general,  is  also  probably  entitled  to  a 
place  in  the  pedigree  of  the  Christmas-tree.  It  was 
customary  amongst  the  ancient  Germans  on  one  of  the 
sacred  nights  of  the  winter  festival,  when,  according  to 
the  popular  belief,  nature  was  permeated  with  new  life, 
to  cut  wands  from  the  hedges.1  These  were  brought 
home,  put  in  water  or  planted  in  a  pot  of  moist  earth, 
and  solemnly  placed,  some  in  the  open  air,  some  in 
the  stable,  and  some  in  the  house.  A  month  later 
each  wand  would  be  in  full  bloom,  and  it  was  then  the 
custom  to  carry  it  round  and  lightly  strike  with  it 
those  to  whom  one  wished  to  impart  health,  strength, 
and  fruitfulness.  Those  struck  with  it  rewarded  the 
striker  with  presents,  in  recompense  for  the  benefit 
he  was  assumed  to  convey.  This  custom,  which  is 
probably  of  Indian  origin,  survived  in  some  parts  of 
the  Continent  as  a  child's  game  even  in  the  present 
century.  Under  the  influence  of  Christianity  the  day 
for  cutting  the  wands  was  delayed,  so  that  they  might 
bloom  at  Christmas,  and  in  some  parts  it  is  still  usual 
to  arrange  that  there  shall  be  a  flowering  branch  in 
the  house  at  that  time.  In  Nordlingen,  a  century  ago, 
families  used  to  compete  with  each  other  as  to  which 

1  Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  244. 


ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  171 

should  be  able  to  show  the  most  flourishing  branch  at 
Christmas-tide.1  To  this  day  in  Austrian  Silesia  the 
peasant  women  sally  forth  at  midnight  on  St.  Andrew's 
eve  to  pluck  a  branch  from  an  apricot-tree.  It  is  put 
in  water  and  flowers  about  Christmas  time,  and  is 
taken  by  them  to  Mass  on  Christmas-day.2 

^Amongst  people  to  whom  the  apple-bearing  tree  of 
the  Paradise-play  was  familiar  the  substitution  for  the 
blooming  branch  of  an  evergreen  decked  with  fruits 

'       " — o 

and  ribbons  and  artificial  flowers  was  quite  natural. 
It  became,  as  it  were,  a  proxy  for  the  deciduoUs 
branch,  still  remaining  the  occasion  for  present-giving, 
though  now  the  tree  became  the  giver  instead  of  the 
receiver  of  gifts. 

The  custom  of  hanging  lights  upon  the  Christmas- 
tree  is  a  comparatively  late  innovation,  the  well-known 
print  of  "  Christmas  in  Luther's  Home,"  where  an 
illuminated  fir-tree  is  represented  as  the  centre  of  the 
festivity,  being  demonstrably  an  anachronism.  The 
Christmas-tree,  when  we  first  definitely  meet  with  it  at 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  certainly 
not  illuminated.  But  the  idea  of  a  light-bearing  tree 
was  familiar  to  the  Middle  Ages.  An  old  Icelandic 
legend  relates  that  once  upon  a  time,  at  Modhrufell, 
there  stood  a  mountain-ash  which  had  sprung  from  the 
blood  of  two  innocent  persons  who  had  been  executed 
there.3  Every  Christmas-eve  the  tree  was  seen  to  be 
covered  with  lights,  which  the  strongest  gale  could  not 
extinguish.  These  lights  were  its  wonderful  blossoms, 
for  in  folk-lore  lights  are  often  made  to  represent 
flowers  and  vice-versa.^  In  the  old  French  legend  of 
Perceval,  the  hero  is  represented  as  coming  upon  a 

1  Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  249.  4  Mannhardt    Germanische   Mythen 

2  Ibid.  p.  250.  (Berlin,  1858),  p.  470,  note. 

3  Mannhardt  I.  p.  241. 


172  THE  SACRED  TREE  CHAP. 

tree  illuminated  with  a  thousand  candles,  and  Durmals 

Ile  Galois,  another  hero  of  mediaeval  legend,  twice  saw 
a  magnificent  tree  covered  with  lights  from  top  to 
bottom.1 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  wax- tapers 
were  given  as  presents  at  the  Roman  Saturnalia,  and 
it  may  well  be  that  the  connection  of  lighted  candles 
with  Christmas  time  may  date  back  to  the  ancient 
solstitial  celebrations,  in  which  they  were  regarded  as 
symbolical  of  the  new  birth  of  the  sun.  The  same 
idea — that  of  typifying  the  renewal  of  life  by  means  of 
lighted  tapers — is  found  in  the  Netherlands  in  con- 
nection with  the  May-tree,  which  there  bears  lights 
amongst  its  other  decorations.  At  Venlo  on  the  Maas 
the  maidens  light  the  tapers  as  the  evening  comes 
on  and  then  dance  around  the  lighted  tree.2  At 
Ltineberg,  at  wedding  festivities,  it  is  usual  to  carry  a 
"  May "  adorned  with  lights  before  the  bridal  pair, 
and  in  the  Hartz  Mountains  the  so-called  "  St.  John's 
tree,"  round  which  the  peasants  dance,  is  a  pyramid 
adorned  with  wreaths,  flowers,  and  lights. 

In  all  these  customs,  which  are  no  doubt  survivals 
of  the  belief  in  a  tree-inhabiting  deity,  we  see  the 
collateral  relations,  if  not  the  direct  progenitors  of  our 
Christmas-tree.  In  short,  modern  as  it  is  in  its 
present  form,  the  Christmas  -  tree  epitomises  many 
most  ancient  ideas ;  is  the  point  to  which  many 
streams  converge  whose  source  is  hidden  in  a  far 
distant  antiquity.  It  is  the  meeting-point  of  the  old 
pagan  belief  in  the  virtues  vested  in  the  tree  and  of 
the  quaint  fancies  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  loved 
to  see  spiritual  truths  embodied  in  material  forms. 
Christ,  the  Tree  of  Life,  blossoming  on  Christmas-eve 

Tille,  op.  cit.  p.  220.  2  Mannhardt  I.  p.  244. 


ix  CHRISTMAS  OBSERVANCES  173 

in  Mary's  bosom  ;  the  fatal  tree  of  paradise  whence 
sprang  the  cross,  the  instrument  of  man's  salvation,— 
that  "  fruit-bearing  heavenly-nourished  tree  planted  in 
the  midst  of  redeemed  man,"  so  often  represented  in 
mediaeval  art ;  the  miracle  of  nature,  so  stirred  by  the 
wonder  of  the  event  as  to  break  forth  into  blossom  in 
the  midst  of  winter — all  these  ideas,  so  characteristic 
of  mediaeval  thought,  became  grafted  together  with 
observances  derived  from  solstitial  worship,  upon 
the  stock  of  the  sacred  tree,  laden  with  offerings 
and  decked  with  fillets.  Indeed  the  Christmas-tree 
may  be  said  to  recapitulate  the  whole  story  of  tree- 
worship, — the  May-tree,  the  harvest-tree,  the  Greek 
eiresione,  the  tree  as  the  symbol  and  embodiment  of 
deity,  and  last  but  not  least,  the  universe-tree,  bearing 
the  lights  of  heaven  for  its  fruit  and  covering  the  world 
with  its  branches. 


INDEX 


ACACIA,  the,  11,  39,  40,  45 

Accadians,  the,  2,  4,  6,  1 1 1,  133 

Acis,  metamorphosis  of,  81 

Adonis,  n,  75,  81,  159 

Aesculapius,  laurel  sacred  to,  37 

Alexander  the  Great,  and  the  flower- 
maidens,  60 ;  and  the  Persian  tree- 
oracles,  99 

Ama-ravati,  Buddhist  sculptures  at,  14 

Ambrosia,  126 

America,  tree-worship  in,  16,  17 

Amrita,  125 

Aphrodite,  30,  32,  46,  81,  88;  apples 
sacred  to,  37  ;  myrtle  sacred  to, 

37 

Apollo,  47,  76,  98,  99  ;  and  Daphne, 
77;  laurel  sacred  to,  36,  47,  50, 

77 
Apples,  sacred  to  Aphrodite,   37  ;    of 

Hesperides,  119 
Arabia,  the  Jinni  of,  24,  52,  54,  94  ; 

tree-oracles  in,   99,   102  ;    tree-wor- 
ship in,  45 

Argo,  oracular  beam  of  the,  98 
Armenia,   tree -oracles  in,   99  ;  use  of 

branches  in,  49 
Artemis,  49,  76 ;  a  vegetation  deity,  29, 

88  ;  sacred  tree  of,  45,  49 
Ashera,  the,  8,  88,  96 
Assyria,  tree-worship  in,  5,  6,  88 
Astarte,  8,  30,  87  ;   the  cypress  sacred 

to,  40 

Athena,  152  ;  the  olive  sacred  to,  38 
Athens,  festivals  at,  48,  151 
Atlantis,  the  lost,  139 
Atlas,  Mount,  no,  119,  135,  136 
Attis,  a  tree-god,  n,  75,  80,  81,  154, 

159 

Auxerre,  sacred  tree  of,  20 
Avalon,  the  isle  of,  140 


BABYLONIA,  tree-worship  in,  6;  moun 
tain  worship  in,  112  ;  world-tree  of, 
1 1 1 

Banian,  the,  42,  64,  76 

Basil,  Holy,  of  India,  43 

Baucis  and  Philemon,  metamorphosis 
of,  79 

Bavaria,  Whitsuntide  custom  in,  159 

Beech,  the  sacred,  46 

Bharhut,  Buddhist  sculptures  at,  15, 
40,  42 

Bo-tree,  the,  40,  116 

Bodhi-trees  of  the  Buddhas,  40 

Borneo,  tree-worship  in,  16 

Botticher,  general  conclusion  of,  re- 
garding tree-worship,  21 

Brahma,  14,  43,  1 15 

Branches  forced  into  flower  at 
Christmas,  170  ;  religious  use  of,  13, 
36,  37,  38,  47,  48,  91 

Brittany,  use  of  laurel  branch  in,  91 

Buddhas,  the  Bodhi-trees  of  the,  40 

Buddhism,  tree-worship  and,  14,  40, 
1 10,  116,  142 

Burma,  tree  worship  in,  16  ;  tree-spirits 
of,  65 


CANAAN,  tree -worship  in,  3,  8,  88  ; 
tree-oracles  in,  95 

Canute  forbids  tree-worship,  20 

Carinthia,  Green  George  of,  157 

Cedar,  the  sacred,  7,  39,  40,  90,  95 

Centaurs,  the,  55,  56 

Ceres,  sacred  grove  of,  63 

Chaldaea,  cosmogony  of,  113  ;  demons 
of,  53 ;  divination  in,  105  ;  illus- 
trious mounds  of,  112;  oracles  of, 
95»  99  >  tree -worship  in,  4,  6  ; 
world -tree  of,  1 1 1 


1 76 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


Charlemagne  destroys  the  Irmensul, 
120 

China,  divination  in,  105  ;  legends  of, 
83  ;  paradise  legends  of,  133  ;  tree- 
worship  iri,  15  ;  world -tree  of, 
118 

Christmas  observances,  162  et  seq. 

Christmas-tree,  introduction  into  Eng- 
land of,  165  ;  origin  in  Germany  of, 

165 
Churches,  decoration  of,  at  Christmas, 

164 

Circassia,  pear-tree  worshipped  in,  153 
Clymene,  the  daughters  of,  78 
Clytia,  metamorphosis  of,  80 
Columbus  and  the  earthly  paradise,  141 
Cronos,  163  ;  a  vegetation  deity,  29 
Cybele,  12,  30,  75,  81 
Cyclops,  the,  55,  56 
Cypress,  the  sacred,  5,  13,  17,  39,  40, 

51,  89,  131 

DAMARAS,  creation  legend  of  the,  74 
Daphne,  94  ;  metamorphosis  of,  77 
Daphnephoria,  the,  47 
Delphi,   sacred  laurel  of,   36,   47,   50, 

77,  98  ;  oracle  of,   36,    50,  77,  94, 

98,  102 
Didu,     the,     emblem    of    Osiris,    34, 

117 
Dionysus,  fruit-tree  dressed  as,  31,  33  ; 

sacred  tree  of,  27  ;  a  tree  deity,  II, 

12,  31,  32,  39,  48,  49,  57,  126,  159 
Divination     in     Germany,     102 ;     by 

leaves,  107  ;  by  roots,  106  ;  in  Sar- 

matia,    102 ;    in    Scythia,    102 ;    in 

Sweden,  105 

Divining  rod,  the,  103  et  seq. 
Dodona,  oracular  oak  of,  28,  36,  93, 

96,  98,  102 
Druids,   the,   20,   35,    103,    105,    161, 

164 

Dryads,  the,  55,  58,  63 
Dusares  and  the  vine,  40 

EA,  7,  95,  in;  sacred  cedar  of,  40, 

131 

Eddas,  the,  account  of  man's  origin  in, 
73  ;  description  of  Yggdrasil  in,  112 

Egypt,  sacred  sycamores  of,  9,  25,  27, 
44,  45  ;  tree-demons  of,  55  ;  tree- 
worship  in,  9,  10,  25,  45  ;  world- 
tree  of,  no,  117 

Eiresione,  the,  48,  151,  173  ;  ad- 
dressed as  a  person,  153 


Elves,  24,  52,  63,  65 

England,  Christmas-tree  in,  165  ;  May 
celebrations  in,  144  et  seq.  ;  'tree- 
worship  in,  20 

Esdras,  paradise  of,  131 

Esthonia,  tree  -  worship  in,  19,  44  ; 
world-tree  of,  122 

FAIRIES,  the,  65 

Fauns,  the,  55,  58 

Faunus,  grove  oracles  of,  100 

Fertility,   the    tree    as    genius    of,   87, 

153 

Ficus  ruminates,  the,  76,  86 

Fig-tree,  the,  associated  with  the  sil- 
vani,  58  ;  carved  as  Pan,  33  ;  spirii 
of,  58 

Finland,  tree  -  spirits  of,  70  ;  tree- 
worship  in,  19;  world-tree  of,  120 

Flower-maidens,  the,  60 

France,  divination  in,  105  ;  harvest 
custom  in,  150  ;  tree-worship  in,  19 

GAUTAMA,  14,  41,  43,   76,  116;  and 

the  Indian  shot,  82 

Germany,     autumn    festival    in,    163, 
1 66,   170;    Christmas-tree  in,    165: 
divination  in,    102,  105  ;    May  cus- 
toms in,  150,  155  ;  tree-demons  of, 
19,  66;  tree-worship  in,  18 
Gilgames,  119,.  137 
Gilgit,  sacred  cedar  of,  90 
Glastonbury  thorn,  the,  1 66,  168 
God,  the,  and  the  tree,  24  et  seq. 
Gods,  food  of  the,  113,  114,  122 
Greece,   creation  legends  of,  74  ;  har- 
vest   customs     of,      151  ;     paradise 
legends    of,    131  ;    tree -worship  in, 
12,  17,  28,  46 
Green  ladies,  the,  68 

HAMADRYADS,  the,  57,  58 
Haoma,  13,  123,  130 
Harvest  May,  the,  151,  173 
Hathor,  a  tree-goddess,  9,  10,  25 
Helen,  sacred  tree  of,  18,  31 
Hera,  29,  32,  76,.  155 
Hermes,  79  ;  birth  of,  76 
Hesperides,    trees    of  the,    101,    119, 
136 

ICELAND,  paradise  legend  of,  138 
India,  paradise  legend  of,    129  ;   soma 
ritual  of,  124  ;  tree-worship  in,  13, 


INDEX 


177 


14,   35,  40,  43,  64;  world-tree  of, 

US 

Indra,  the  paradise  of,  129;  and  the 
soma,  125 

Irmensul,  the,  120 

Israelites,  tree- worship  amongst,  3,  8  ; 
use  of  branches  by,  48 

Istar,  6,  8,  30,  88 

Italy,  modern  belief  in  wood-spirits  in, 
58;  tree  -  oracles  in,  100;  tree- 
worship  in,  12,  17,  28,  37,  47 

JACK-IN-THE-GREEN,  148,  157 
Japan,   legends  of,    83,    84 ;    paradise 

legend    of,    141  ;     tree-demons    of, 

70;  tree- worship  in,  15;  world-tree 

of,  118 
Jinni    of    Arabia,    the,    24,    52,    54, 

94 

LAUREL,  the  sacred,   36,  47,  50,  59, 

77,  9i.  98 
Life-rood,  the  (Lebensrute),  103,  127, 

170 
Life,   the  tree  of,  15,   130,    131,  142, 

170 

Life-tree,  the,  84,  101 
Little  Daedala,  festival  of  the,  155 
Ljeschi,  69 

MAHOMETAN  paradise,  the,  132,  134 

Maid  Marian,  158 

Maundeville,  Sir  J.,  his  account  of 
paradise,  137  ;  his  description  of  a 
tree  of  paradise,  143 

May-bride,  the,  158 

May  celebrations,  21,  145  et  seq. 

"May,"  the,  149,  151,  153 

May-pole,  the,  146,  154,  155 

May  queen,  the,  146,  156 

Melcarth,  the  cypress  sacred  to,  40 

Melus,  metamorphosis  of,  80 

Metamorphosis  into  trees,  T]  et  seil> 

Metempsychosis  into  trees,  82  et  seq. 

Mexico,  human  sacrifices  in,  159; 
tree  -  symbol  found  in,  1 6  ;  tree- 
worship  in,  1 7 

Milton,    his    description    of    paradise, 

135 

Mistletoe,  20,  164 

Mithra,  13,  40,  163 

Moss-women,  the,  67 

Myrtle,    the    sacred,  13,    29,    37,    39, 

86 
Mulberry-tree,  the,  96 


NAKHLA,  sacred  acacia  of,  45 
Nantes,    tree -worship    condemned    by 

Council  of,  20 

Narcissus,  metamorphosis  of,  81 
Nejran,  sacred  palm  of,  45,  99 
New  Zealand,   cosmogonic  legend   of, 

no 

Nicaragua,  tree-worship  in,  17 
Nuit,  a  tree-goddess,  10,  25,  27,  117; 

goddess  of  the  sky,  no,  117 

OAK,  the  sacred,  of  Ceres,  63  ;  of  the 
Druids,  20;  of  Esthonia,  122;  of 
Finland,  19,  44,  121  ;  of  Pan,  56; 
of  the  Roman  Capitol,  25  ;  at 
Remove,  44  ;  of  Zeus,  28,  35,  37, 
93,  96,  101,  155 

Olive,  the,  sacred  to  Athena,  38 ;  vene- 
rated by  the  Semites,  39,  49 

Olympus,  134 

Omens,  tree,  101 

Oracle-lots,  102 

Oracles,  tree,  93  et  seq. 

Origin-myths,  73 

Oschophoria,  the,  48,  152 

Osiris,  his  emblem,  the  Didu  or  Tat, 
34,  117;  a  tree-god,  11,  40,  159 

PALESTINE,  tree-demons  of,  54 ;  tree- 
worship  in,  7,  8 

Palm-tree,  the,  5,  45,  49,  88,  99 
Pan,  a  tree-god,   31,  33,  46,   56;  the 

pipe  of,  8 1 

Paradise,  128  et  seq. ;  an  artificial,  143  \ 
the  earthly,  136  ;  trees  of,  131,  142, 
170 

Paradise-plays,  mediaeval,  169,  171 
Patagonia,  tree- worship  in,  17 
Pear-tree,  the,  worshipped  in  Circassia, 

153 

Permians,  trees  worshipped  by  the,  19 
Persia,  creation  legends  of,   23,    130; 

haoma    ritual  of,    123  ;    tree -oracle 

in,   99  ;  tree -worship  in,    13,    123  ; 

use  of  branches  in,   49  ;  world-tree 

of,  115,  142 
Peru,  wood-ghost  of,  71 
Pfingstl,  the,  159 
Phyllis,  metamorphosis  of,  79 
Pine,  the  sacred,  28,  31,  56,  58,   59, 

80  ;  venerated^  by  the  Semites,  39 
Pippala,  the,  associated  with  Brahma, 

14;  with  Gatftama,  41 
Plane-tree,  the,   of  Armavira,  99  ;    its 

connection  with  Pelops,    86 ;    with 

Persian  kings,  13 


N 


THE  SACRED  TREE 


Poland,  tree- worship  in,  19 

Pomegranate,  the,  5,  30,  80 

Poplar,  the,  sacred  to  Dis,  39  ;  Zeus 

born  beneath,  76 
Puritans,    denunciation   of  May -poles 

by,  21,  146 

ROBIN  HOOD,  king  of  the  May,  158 

Rome,  grove  oracle  in,  100;  tree- 
worship  in,  17,  28,  47 

Remove,  sacred  oak  of,  44 

Russia,  tree-demons  of,  19,  66,  69 ; 
tree -worship  in,  19  ;  Whitsuntide 
custom  in,  150 

ST.  MARK'S,  Venice,  symbol  of  sacred 
^tree  in,  2,  5,7 

Sanchi,  Buddhist  sculptures  at,  14, 
42 

Sanctuary,  the  tree  as,  49 

Sarmatia,  divination  in,  102 

Saturnalia,  the,  163,  172 

Satyrs,  the,  55,  56,  57 

Scandinavia,  world-tree  of,  112 

Scythia,  divination  in,  102 

Seirtm,  "Satyrs"  of  the  Bible,  54 

Semites,  tree-oracles  of  the,  95  ;  tree- 
worship  amongst  the,  7,  39-87 

Sia  Indians,  cosmogony  of,  118 

Siam,  tree-worship  in,  1 6 

Sileni,  the,  55,  56 

Silvanus,  28,  57 

Sioux,  creation  legend  of,  74 

Soma,  124,  126 

Sudan,  tree- worship  in  the,  10 

Sumatra,  tree- worship  in,  16 

Swabia,  spring  observances  in,  160 

Sweden,  divination  in,  105  ;  May 
observances  in,  1 50  ;  tree-spirits  of, 
68 

Switzerland,  tree-demons  of,  68 

Sycamores,  the  sacred,  of  Egypt,  9, 
25,  27,  44,  45,  118 

TAARA,  a  tree-god,  44 

Talmud,  the,  paradise  of,  132;  life- 
tree  mentioned  in,  85 

Tammuz,  6,  n,  12,  in,  159 

Tapio,  70 

Tit-pillar,  the,  34,  117 

Tengus  of  Japan,  the,  70 

Travancore,  sacred  tree  in,  14 

Tree,  the,  births  beneath,  76  ;  Chal- 
daean  symbol  of  the  sacred,  2,  5,  30, 
88  ;  dressed  or  carved  as  anthropo- 


morphic god,  27,  31,  32,  35,  103; 
of  the  community,  86,  154;  of  the 
family,  86,  101  ;  of  life,  15,  130, 
131,  142,  170;  lights  on,  91,  171  ; 
offerings  to,  30,  45,  46  ;  of  paradise, 
131,  169  ;  in  relation  to  human  life, 
72  ;  as  symbol  of  fertility,  88  ;  of 
universe,  109  et  sey.,  173 

Tree-deities,  9,  16,  24  et  seq. 

Tree-demons,  16,  24,  52,  55  et  seq. 

Tree-nymphs,  55,  56,  58,  59,  6 1,  62 

Tree-oracles,  93  et  seq. 

Tree-origins,  73  et  seq. 

Tree-omens,  101 

Tree-sanctuaries,  49 

Tree-soul,  the  generalised,  90  ;  primi- 
tive conception  of,  I 

Tree  -  worship,  in  Africa,  1 1  ;  in 
America,  16,  17  ;  in  Arabia,  45  ; 
in  Assyria,  6 ;  in  Borneo,  16  ;  in 
Burma,  16;  in  Canaan,  3,  8 ; .  in 
Chaldaea,  4,  6,  1 1 1  ;  in  China,  1 5  ; 
in  Egypt,  9,  10,  25,  45  ;  in  Eng- 
land, 20;  in  Esthonia,  19;  in 
France,  19 ;  in  Finland,  19  ;  in 
Germany,  18;  in  Greece,  17,  28,46  ; 
in  India,  13, 14,  35,  40,  43,  64,  124  ; 
in  Japan,'  15  ;  in  Mexico,  17  ;  in 
Nicaragua,  17  ;  in  Palestine,  3,  7, 
8  ;  in  Patagonia,  17  ;  in  Persia,  13, 
123  ;  in  Phoenicia,  8,  12  ;  in 
Phrygia,  12;.  in  Poland,  19;  in 
Rome,  17,  46;  in  Russia,  19;  in 
the  Semitic  area,  7,  39,  87  ;  in  Siam, 
1 6  ;  in  the  Sudan,  n  ;  in  Sumatra, 
1 6  ;  origin  of,  22 

Trees,  Christmas  flowering,  116; 
legends  of  bleeding,  62,  63  ;  legends 
of  speaking,  101 

Tristram  and  Iseult,  legend  of,  82 

Trophonius,  oracle  of,  94 

Tylor,  Mr.  E.  B.,  on  tree -worship, 
21 

Tyrol,  wild  women  of,  67 

UPSALA,  sacred  grove  of,  43 

VINE-WOMEN  of  Lucian,  the,  60 
Vine,   the,    sacred    to    Dionysus,    39 ; 

to   Dusares,  40 ;    venerated  by  the 

Semites,  39 
Vishnu,  43,  76 

"  WEGE-WARTE,"  legend  of  the,  83 
Wends,  the,  and  the  May-pole,  156 
Wild-fanggen,  the,  67 


INDEX 


179 


Wild  men  of  the  woods,   21,   52,  56, 

66,  68,  71,  161 
Willow,  the,  connected  with  Artemis, 

29  ;  with  Hera,   29,  76  ;    inhabited 

by  tree-spirit,  62 
Woden,  43 
Wood-maidens,  67 
World-mountain,  the,   no,    112,    118, 

134 
World-tree,   the,    109  et  seq. ;  of  Bud- 


dhists, 116;  of  Chaldaea,  in;  of 
Egypt,  no,  117  ;  of  Esthonia,  122  ; 
of  Finland,  120;  of  India,  115  ;  of 
Persia,  115;  of  Scandinavia,  112 

YGGDRASIL,  112  et  seq. 

ZEUS,  a  tree-god,  18,  28,  29,  35,  46, 

155  ;  oracle  of,  at  Dodona,  93,  96 
Zeus-Ammon,  oracle  of,  96 


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CONTE  NTS 

CHAPTER  I.  Introductory. — II.  Sierra  Leone  and  its  surroundings. — 
III.  African  Characteristics. — IV.  Fishing  in  West  Africa.— 
V.— Fetish.— VI.  Schools  of  Fetish.— VII.  Fetish  and  Witch- 
craft.—-VIII.  African  Medicine.— IX.  The  Witch  Doctor.— 
X.— Early  Trade  in  West  Africa. — XI.  French  Discovery  of 
West  Africa.— XII.  Commerce  in  West  Africa.— XIII.  The 
Crown  Colony  System. — XIV.  The  Crown  Colony  System  in 
West  Africa. — XV.  More  of  the  Crown  Colony  System. — 
XVI.  The  Clash  of  Cultures.— XVII.  An  Alternative  Plan.— 
XVIII.  African  Property. 

APPENDIX. — I.  A  short  description  of  the  Natives  of  the  Niger  Coast 
Protectorate,  with  some  account  of  their  Customs,  Religion, 
Trade,  &c.  By  M.  le  Comte  C.  N.  de  Cardi.— II.  A  Voyage  to 
the  African  Oil  Rivers  twenty-five  years  ago.  By  John  Harford. 
— III.  Trade  goods  used  in  the  early  trade  with  Africa  as  given 
by  Barbot  and  other  writers  of  the  Seventeenth  Century.  By 
M.  H.  Kingsley. 

INDEX. 

;2 


EXTRACTS    FROM    PREFACE 

I  PRAY  you  who  may  come  across  this  book  to  distinguish  carefully 
between  the  part  of  it  written  by  others  and  that  written  by  me. 

Anything  concerning  West  Africa  written  by  M.  le  Comte  C.  de 
Cardi  or  Mr.  John  Harford,  of  Bristol,  does  not  require  apology  and 
explanation  ;  while  anything  written  by  me  on  this,  or  any  subject, 
does.  M.  le  Comte  de  Cardi  possesses  an  unrivalled  knowledge  of 
the  natives  of  the  Niger  Delta,  gained,  as  all  West  Coasters  know, 
by  personal  experience,  and  gained  in  a  way  whereby  he  had  to  test 
the  truth  of  his  ideas  about  these  natives,  not  against  things  said 
concerning  them  in  books,  but  against  the  facts  themselves,  for  years  ; 
and  depending  on  the  accuracy  of  his  knowledge  was  not  a  theory, 
but  his  own  life  and  property.  I  have  always  wished  that  men  having 
this  kind  of  first-hand,  well-tested  knowledge  regarding  West  Africa 
could  be  induced  to  publish  it  for  the  benefit  of  students,  and  for  the 
foundation  of  a  true  knowledge  concerning  the  natives  of  West 
Africa  in  the  minds  of  the  general  public,  feeling  assured  that  if  we 
had  this  class  of  knowledge  available,  the  student  of  ethnology  would 
be  saved  from  many  fantastic  theories,  and  the  general  public  enabled 
to  bring  its  influence  to  bear  in  the  cause  of  justice,  instead  of  in  the 
cause  of  fads.  I  need  say  nothing  more  regarding  Appendix  I.  ;  it 
is  a  mine  of  knowledge  concerning  a  highly  developed  set  of  natives 
of  the  true  Negro  stem,  particularly  valuable  because,  during  recent 
years,  we  have  been  singularly  badly  off  for  information  on  the  true 
Negro.  It  would  not  be  too  much  to  say  that,  with  the  exception  of 
the  important  series  of  works  by  the  late  Sir  A.  B.  Ellis,  and  a  few 
others,  so  few  that  you  can  count  them  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand, 
and  Dr.  Freeman's  Ashanti  and  Jaman,  published  this  year,  we  have 
practically  had  no  reliable  information  on  these,  the  most  important 
of  the  races  of  Africa,  since  the  eighteenth  century.  ...  I  am,  there- 
fore, very  proud  at  being  permitted  by  M.  le  Comte  de  Cardi  to 
publish  his  statements  on  true  Negroes  j  and  I  need  not  say  I  have 
in  no  way  altered  them,  and  tKat  he  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  any 
errors  that  there  may  be  in  the  portions  of  this  book  written  by  me. 

Mr.  John  Harford,  the  man  who  first  opened  up  that  still  little- 
known  Qua  Ibo  river,  another  region  of  Negroes,  also  requires  no 
apology.  I  am  confident  that  the  quite  unconscious  picture  of  a  West 
Coast  trader's  life  given  by  him  in  Appendix  II.  will  do  much  to 
remove  the  fantastic  notions  held  concerning  West  Coast  traders  and 
the  manner  of  life  they  lead  out  there :  and  I  am  convinced  that  if 
the  English  public  had  more  of  this  sort  of  material  it  would  recognise, 
as  I,  from  a  fairly  extensive  knowledge  of  West  Coast  traders,  have 
been  forced  to  recognise,  that  they  are  the  class  of  white  men  out 
there  who  can  be  trusted  to  manage  West  Africa. 

*  *  *  # 

I  now  turn  to  the  explanation  and  apology  for  this  book,  briefly. 
...  In  my  previous  book  I  most  carefully  confined  myself  to 
facts  and  arranged  those  facts  on  as  thin  a  line  of  connecting  opinion 
as  possible.  I  was  anxious  to  see  what  manner  of  opinion  they 
would  give  rise  to  in  the  minds  of  the  educated  experts  up  here ; 
not  from  a  mere  feminine  curiosity,  but  from  a  distrust  in  my  own 
ability  to  construct  theories.  On  the  whole  this  method  has  worked 

3] 


well.  Ethnologists  of  different  theories  have  been  enabled  to  use 
such  facts  as  they  saw  fit ;  but  one  of  the  greatest  of  ethnologists  has 
grumbled  at  me,  not  for  not  giving  a  theory,  but  for  omitting  to 
show  the  inter-relationship  of  certain  groups  of  facts,  an  inter-relation- 
ship his  acuteness  enabled  him  to  know  existed.  Therefore  I  here 
give  the  key  to  a  good  deal  of  this  inter-relationship  by  dividing  the 
different  classes  of  Fetishism  into  four  schools.  In  order  to  do  this 
I  have  now  to  place  before  you  a  good  deal  of  material  that  was 
either  crowded  out  of  the  other  work  or  considered  by  me  to  require 
further  investigation  and  comparison.  As  for  the  new  statements 
I  make,  I  have  been  enabled  to  give  them  here  from  the  constant 
information  and  answers  to  questions  I  receive  from  West  Africa. 
For  the  rest  of  the  Fetish  I  remain  a  mere  photographic  plate. 

Regarding  the  other  sections  of  this  book,  they  are  to  me  all 
subsidiary  in  importance  to  the  Fetish,  but  they  belong  to  it,  They 
refer  to  its  environment,  without  a  knowledge  of  which  you  cannot 
know  the  theory.  What  Mr.  Macmillan  has  ticketed  as  Introductory 
— I  could  not  find  a  name  for  it  at  all — has  a  certain  bearing  on  West 
African  affairs,  as  showing  the  life  on  a  West  Coast  boat.  I  may 
remark  it  is  a  section  crowded  out  of  my  previous  book  ;  so,  though, 
you  may  not  be  glad  to  see  it  here,  you  must  be  glad  it  was  not  there. 
The  fishing  chapter  was  also  cast  out  of  Travels  in  West  Africa,. 
Critics  whom  I  respect  said  it  was  wrong  of  me  not  to  have  explained 
how  I  came  by  my  fishes.  This  made  me  fear  that  they  thought 
I  had  stolen  them,  so  I  published  the  article  promptly  in  the  National' 
Review,  and,  by  the  kindness  of  its  editor,  Mr.  Maxse,  I  reprint  it.. 
It  is  the  only  reprint  in  this  book. 

The  chapter  on  Law  contains  all  the  material  I  have  been  so  far- 
able  to  arrange  on  this  important  study.  The  material  on  Criminal 
Law  I  must  keep  until  I  can  go  out  again  to  West  Africa,  and  read: 
further  in  the  minds  of  men  in  the  African  Forest  Belt  region  ;  for  in- 
them,  in  that  region,  is  the  original  text.  The  connection  between 
E  eligion  and  Law  I  have  not  reprinted  here,  it  being  available,  thanks^ 
to  the  courtesy  of  the  Hibbert  Trustees,  in  the  National  Review. 

I  have  left  my  stiffest  bit  of  explanation  and  apology  till  the  last,, 
namely,  that  relating  to  the  Crown  Colony  system,  which  is  the  thing; 
that  makes  me  beg  you  to  disassociate  from  me  every  friend  I  have, 
and  deal  with  me  alone.  I  am  alone  responsible  for  it,  the  only  thing 
for  which  I  may  be  regarded  as  sharing  the  responsibility  with  others 
being  the  statistics  from  Government  sources. 

It  has  been  the  most  difficult  thing  I  have  ever  had  to  do.  I  would 
have  given  my  right  hand  to  have  done  it  well,  for  I  know  what  it 
means  if  things  go  on  as  they  are.  Alas  !  I  am  hampered  with  my 
bad  method  of  expression.  I  cannot  show  you  anything  clearly  and 
neatly.  I  have  to  show  you  a  series  of  pictures  of  things,  and  hope 
you  will  get  from  those  pictures  the  impression  which  is  the  truth. 
I  would  not  have  mentioned  this  affair  at  all,  did  I  not  clearly  see 
that  our  present  method  of  dealing  with  tropical  possessions  under 
the  Crown  Colony  system  was  dangerous  financially,  and  brought 
with  it  suffering  to  the  native  races  and  disgrace  to  English  gentle- 
men, who  are  bound  to  obey  and  carry  out  the  orders  given  them  by 
the  system. 

[4 


Now  Ready.     &vo.     2is.  net 
THE 

NATIVE   TRIBES 

OF 

CENTRAL    AUSTRALIA 


BY 


BALDWIN   SPENCER,   M.A. 

SOMETIME    FELLOW    OF    LINCOLN    COLLEGE,    OXFORD 
."ROFESSOR     OF      BIOLOGY      IN     THE      UNIVERSITY      OF     MELBOURNE 


AND 

F.   J.   GILLEN 

SPECIAL    MAGISTRATE   AND    SUB-PROTECTOR   OF   THE    ABORIGINES 
ALICE    SPRINGS,    SOUTH    AUSTRALIA 


.III 

WITH    NUMEROUS    ILLUSTRATIONS 


3Lont»on 

MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 
NEW  YORK:   THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

All  rights  reserved, 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER     I. — Introduction. 

,,  II. — The  Social  Organisation  of  the  Tribes. 

„  III. — Certain  ceremonies  concerned  with  marriage 
together  with  a  discussion  regarding  the 
same. 


CHAPTER  IV. — The  Totems. 

„  V. — The  Churiflga  or  Bull-Roarers  of  the  Arunta 

and  other  Tribes. 

,,          VI. — Intichiuma  ceremonies. 
,,        VII. — Initiation  ceremonies. 

,,  VIII. — Initiation  ceremonies  (continued).  The 
Engwura  ceremony. 

,,         IX. — The  Engwura  ceremony  (concluded). 

,,  X. — Traditions   dealing   with   the   origin   of  the 

Alcheringa  ancestors  of  the  Arunta  Tribe, 
and  with  particular  customs. 

,,  XI. — Traditions  dealing  with  the  origin  of  the 
Alcheringa  ancestors  of  the  Arunta  Tribe, 
and  with  particular  customs  (continued). 
The  Udnirringita  Totem. 

,,  XII. — Customs  concerned  with  knocking  out  of 
teeth  ;  nose-boring  ;  growth  of  breasts  ; 
blood,  blood-letting,  blood-giving,  blood- 
drinking  ;  hair ;  childbirth ;  food  restric- 
tions; cannibalism.  Knocking  out  of  teeth. 

,,  XIII. — The  customs  of  Kurdaitcha  and  Illapurinja 
and  the  avenging  party  or  Atninga. 

,,      XIV. — Customs  relating  to  burial  and  mourning. 

,,  XV. — The  Iruntarinia  and  Arumburinga,  or  spirit 
individuals. 

,,  XVI. — The  making  and  the  powers  of  medicine 
men  ;  various  forms  of  magic. 

,,     XVII. —  Methods  of  obtaining  wives. 

,,  XVIII. — Myths  relating  to  sun,  moon,  eclipses,  etc. 

,,  XIX. — Clothing,  weapons,  implements,  decorative 
art,  etc. 

APPENDIX  A. — The  names  of  the  natives. 

„  B. — The  Wilyaru  Ceremony  of  the  Urabunna 
Tribe,  together  with  references  to  Mr. 
Gason's  account  of  the  Dieri  (Dieyerie) 
Tribe. 

C. 


MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,   LTD.,   LONDON 


Nearly  Ready.     Svo.     Price  2is.  net 

IN  THE  AUSTRALIAN  BUSH 

AND  ON  THE  COAST  OF  THE 
CORAL  SEA 

BEING  THE   EXPERIENCES    AND    OBSERVATIONS   OF 
A   NATURALIST   IN   AUSTRALIA,   NEW   GUINEA 
AND   THE    MOLUCCAS 

BY 

RICHARD     SEMON 

PROFESSOR    IN   JENA 
WITH   EIGHTYFIVE   ILLUSTRATIONS  AND   FOUR    MAPS 


MACMILLAN     AND     CO.,     LIMITED 

NEW   YORK  :   THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1898 

PREFACE   TO   THE   ENGLISH   EDITION 

IN  offering  the  English  Edition  of  my  work  to  the  British 
public  I  wish  to  mention  that  it  was  written  under  my  own 
superintendence,  but  that  its  contents  do  not  differ  in  any 
important  point  from  the  German  edition. 

At  the  same  time,  I  am  deeply  indebted  to  Prof.  G.  B. 
Howes,  who  was  so  good  as  to  see  my  work  through  the 
press,  improving  it,  in  so  doing,  in  various  directions, 
particularly  by  some  scientific  alterations  which  were  made 
necessary  by  the  progress  of  science  since  the  commence- 
ment of  this  book. 

RICHARD    SEMON. 


CONTENTS 

U  O  T  T  d     Lff  A       I  A  *  T  T  Q  F  T  A      "T  T  F  'T'     \A  T 

CHAPTER     I. — From  Jena  to  Queensland. 

,,          II.— Off  to  the  Burnett. 

,,         III. — First  Camping  Experience. 

,,         IV. — The  Auburn  Camp. 

V.— -The  Departure  of  the  Blacks. 
VI.— The  Flood. 

„       VII. — My  Excursion  to  the  Upper  Burnett. 
„      VIII. — My  Return  to  the  Burnett. 
,,         IX. — In  the  Main  Camp  on  the  Boyne. 
,,  X. — The  Original  Population  of  Australia. 

,,         XI. — The   North-East    Coast   of    Australia    from 
Brisbane  to  Cape  York. 

,,       XII. — Thursday  Island  and  Torres  Straits. 

,,      XIII. — New  Guinea  from  Yule  Island  to  the  South 
Cape. 

,,      XIV. — New  Guinea :  From  the  South  Cape  to  the 
East  Cape 

„        XV.-Java. 

„       XVI. — From  Java  to  Ambon  by  Celebes  and  the 
Northern  Moluccas. 

„    XVIL— Amboyna. 

„  XVIII. — From  Ambon  to  Banda  and  Journey  Home. 

APPENDIX. 


MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,   LTD.,   LONDON 

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THE 

VALLEY  OF  LIGHT 

STUDIES  WITH   PEN  AND   PENCIL   IN   THE 
VAUDOIS  VALLEYS  OF  PIEDMONT 


BY 


,1.1V 


W.    BASIL    WORSFOLD 

.•iTTHOR  OF  'THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  CRIT: 


ILontion 
MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

NEW  YORK :   THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1898 


THOU  TO  Y3JJAV 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER         I. — THE   PRINCIPLE   OF  CONTRAST. 
,,  II. — Lux  LUCET  IN  TENEBRIS. 

.,  III. — TORRE   PELLICE. 

„  IV. — SAN  GIOVANNI. 

,,  V. — THE  YEAR  OF  THE  MASSACRES. 

,,  VI. — LUSERNA. 

„  VII. — THE   VALLEY  OF   ANGROGNA. 

VIII. — PRA  DEL  TORXO. 
„  IX. — THE    SCHOOL   OF  THE   BARBES. 

X. — BOBBIO. 

,  XI. — THE   ETERNAL   HILLS. 

„          XII. — THE  VALLEY  OF   SAN    MARTI xo. 

XIII.— THE   BALSILLE. 

„         XIV. — FENESTRELLE   AND    MOUNT   ALBERGIAN. 
.,          XV.— THE   VALLEY   OF   RORA. 
„         XVI. — THE   EMANCIPATION  JUBILEE. 


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Now  Ready.     With  Numerous  Illustrations.     Medium  Sro. 
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THE 


PHILIPPINE    ISLANDS 


AND    THEIR    PEOPLE 


A  RECORD  OF  PERSONAL  OBSERVATION  AND  EXPERIENCE,  WITH 

A  SHORT  SUMMARY  OF  THE  MORE  IMPORTANT  FACTS 

IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO 


BY 

DEAN   C.   WORCESTER 

ASSISTANT  PROFESSOR  OF  ZOOLOGY,  UNIVERSITY  OF  MICHIGAN 


11  OHtl  OH 

MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

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1898 

All  rights  riser-ced 
\\ 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER      I. — THE  PHILIPPINE  ISLANDS  IN  HISTORY 
„         II. — MANILA 

„        III. — GENERAL  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  ARCHIPELAGO 
,,        IV. — FIRST  VISIT  TO  PALAWAN 

V.— SECOND  VISIT  TO  PALAWAN 
,,         VI. — BALABAC,  CAGAYAN  SULU,  MINDANAO,  AND  BASILAN 

VII. — SECOND  VISIT  TO  MINDANAO — THE  MOROS 
,,    VIII.— SULU 
„        IX.-TAW,  TAW, 
,,          X. — PANAY  AND   GUIMARAS 
,,        XL— NEGROS 

XII. — SiauijoR 
„     XIII.— CEBU 
„     XIV.— SAMAR 

„       XV. — MASBATE  AND  MARINDUGUE 
.,     XVI. — FIRST  VISIT  TO  MINDORO 
„   XVII. — SECOND  AND  THIRD  VISITS  TO  MINDORO 
3,XVIIL— LUZON 
,,     XIX. — ROMBLON  TABLAS,  AND  SIBUYAN 

„          XX. —  CULION    AND    BUSUANGA 

APPENDIX 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  PRESS 

PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. — "This  book  is  a  result  of  two  American  scientific 
expeditions  to  the  Philippines  in  which  its  author  took  part.  In  the  first  (1887-8) 
he,  with  two  other  former  students  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Steere,  accompanied  the  Doctor ; 
the  second  (1890-2)  was  undertaken  and  carried  through  by  two  of  these  four, 
Mr.  Worcester  and  Dr.  Bourns,  financed  by  the  generosity  of  Mr.  Louis  F. 
Menage  of  Minneapolis.  They  visited  Luzon,  Palawan,  Mindanao,  Mindoro, 
Negros,  Masbate — but  what  is  the  use  of  continuing  the  list  ?  It  was  only  worth 
while  to  begin  it  that  its  meaninglessness  to  almost  every  reader  might  forcibly 
suggest  how  little  is  generally  known  about  America's  new  acquisition.  Spanish 
contentions  that  America,  in  claiming  the  Sulu  Archipelago,  was  asking  for 
something  quite  new  over  and  above  the  Philippines  have  probably  produced 
a  general  impression  that  the  Sulu  Islands  are  far  away  among  the  Carolines  or 

[12 


somewhere.  From  all  such  mistakes  the  invaluable  map  here  included  will  in 
future  save  the  reader  ;  while  no  Philippine  names  will  ever  be  meaningless  again 
after  a  perusal  of  this  splendid  book,  as  full  of  entertainment  as  of  information. 
It  was  with  a  view  to  bird-skins  and  science  generally  that  these  Americans 
explored  the  islands  ;  they  never  dreamt  that  within  a  few  years  circumstances 
would  call  for  a  book  from  one  of  their  number  of  universal  interest  and  of  great 
value  to  their  Government.  But  that  is  what  has  happened,  and  henceforth  this 
volume  and  Foreman's  admirable  work  will  be  the  two  indispensable  com- 
plementary authorities  on  the  Philippines.  The  illustrations,  we  may  add,  are 
numerous  and  good.  .  .  .  With  two  or  three  columns  at  our  disposal,  we 
could  fill  them  with  first-rate  scissorings  of  the  humours,  discomforts,  and 
dangers  of  these  travels,  which  are  quite  up  to  the  best  standard." 

ACADEMY. — "  We  heartily  regret  that  the  mysterious  law  under  which  books 
of  great  value  are  published  neck-and-neck  in  the  early  winter  makes  it  impossible 
for  us  to  follow  Mr.  Worcester  through  pages  which  are  often  of  enthralling 
interest.  The  hunting  experiences  of  his  party  are  sometimes  sheer  romance,  and 
the  whole  narrative  is  gay  and  illuminative.  As  for  the  Spanish  rule,  its  character 
is  deliciously  indicated  in  Mr.  Worcester's  account  of  the  trouble  which  he  and 
his  party  had  to  get  their  baggage  passed  through  the  customs-house." 

GLASGOW  HERALD. — "The  volume  will  be  read  with  intense  interest  in 
America,  where  it  is  of  special  value  at  the  present  moment.  But  it  is  certain  to 
attract  a  large  amount  of  attention  in  this  country  also,  since  it  opens  up  a  field 
of  research  which  has  hitherto  been  left  almost  untouched.  The  book  is 
handsomely  printed  and  has  an  immense  number  of  excellent  illustrations." 

THE  TIMES.—11  A  very  reliable  contribution  to  our  slender  stock  of  knowledge 
of  the  great  archipelago  which  the  American  people  have  undertaken  to  reclaim 
from  the  cumulative  effects  of  centuries  of  misrule.  ...  A  pleasanter  and  more 
readable  volume  of  travels  we  have  seldom  met  with.  Amidst  all  the  hardships 
and  dangers  he  encountered  Professor  Worcester's  American  sense  of  humour 
seems  never  to  have  forsaken  him.  He  is  a  shrewd  and  careful  and  withal  kindly 
observer.  .  .  .  The  illustrations,  from  photographs  taken  often  under  conditions 
of  considerable  difficulty  and  danger,  are  excellent." 

DAILY  NEWS.— "As  a  guide  to  the  comprehension  of  the  Philippines 
question,  Mr.  Worcester's  book  is  interesting  and  valuable  just  because  its 
material  was  originally  put  together  without  any  possible  reference  to  the  war 
which  has  just  opened  a  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  East  and  West  Indies. 

.  .  Mr.  Worcester's  book  is  provided  with  a  good  map,  and  a  large  number  of 
illustrations.  It  is  a  well-written,  well-informed,  timely  publication." 


MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LTD.,  LONDON. 

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Now  Ready.     Svo.     Price  I2s.  6d.  net 

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' 

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BY   THE 

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GOLD    COAST    DISTRICT 

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[11 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 

Offer  of  services  for  the  Gold  Coast  Mission — Particulars  as  to  outfit,  &c.— 
Notes  of  introduction  to  friends  in  Africa. 

CHAPTER  II 

Furnishes  brief  information  respecting  the  various  tribes  of  the  Gold  Coast — 
Our  early  relations  with  them,  and  the  value  of  their  country  com- 
mercially— Concluding  with  remarks  respecting  the  Fetish  religion. 

CHAPTER  III 

Contains  a  revelation  to  the  Author,  the  study  of  which  proves  that  the 
Missionary's  preconceived  ideas  respecting  his  vocation  did  not  harmonise 
with  his  actual  experience — Suggestions  are  also  respectfully  offered  to 
the  aspiring  West  African  resident  in  reference  to  the  preservation  of 
health,  and  the  reader  is  introduced  to  an  invaluable  colleague. 

CHAPTER  IV 

Deals  with  the  difficulties  in  introducing  Christian  ideas  respecting  marriage 
— Reflections  concerning  the  character  of  the  native,  and  references  to  our 
school  at  Cape  Coast. 

CHAPTER  V 

Gives  an  account  of  a  journey  into  the  "  Bush,"  with  glimpses  of  forest 
scenery,  and  an  introduction  to  the  rural  members  of  the  Church. 

CHAPTER  VI 

Relates  circumstances  which  will  summon  an  immense  concourse  of  people  — 
a  funeral,  a  fire,  or  a  festival — And  has  a  reference  to  Elmina  Castle  and 
its  connection  with  the  Ashanti  War  of  1873 — And  concludes  with 
remarks  respecting  personal  associates. 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  arrival  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Missionaries  at  Cape  Coast — Theological 
differences  do  not  affect  personal  friendships — The  Reverend  T.  J.  Price 
and  his  difficulties  with  the  vernacular — His  Excellency  Sir  W.  Brandford 
Griffith,  K.C.M.G. — Happy  relations  with  Anglican  Clergy. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Records  a  memorable  journey  through  Aburah  and  Assin — And  furnishes 
illustrations  of  the  Fetish  priestcraft. 

CHAPTER  IX 

The  first  serious  break  in  the  European  Staff— A  journey  to  the  gold  mines — 
Extracts  from  Reports — Peacemaking  between  converts — Advantages  of 
African  workers  among  Africans — The  arrival  of  the  Reverend  A.  W. 
Hall — Industrial  training — Commercial  interests  in  West  Africa  not 
essentially  selfish. 

CHAPTER  X 

The  Missionary  is  joined  by  his  wife — The  urgent  need  of  lady  workers  in 
Africa — Suggestions  respecting  the  sanitation  of  the  Colony— A  journey 
to  the  Aburi  sanatorium,  and  an  account  of  the  Croboe  heathen  customs. 

CHAPTER  XI 

The  Drink  Traffic — Our  attitude  as  a  Church  towards  the  question — 
Suggestions  to  the  Government — Reckless  travelling — His  Excellency 
the  Governor  and  the  Colonial  Secretary  testify  to  the  value  of  Mission 
work— Proposal  to  establish  Girls'  Boarding  School  at  Aburi— Practical 
support  of  the  Home  Government. 

CHAPTER  XII 

The  steamship  Calabar — Advance  in  shipping  accommodation — Difficulties; 
in  negotiating  land  questions  with  the  unsophisticated  African — A  plague 

HO 


of  locusts — "Liberty,  Fraternity,  Equality" — The  Gold  Coast  Board  of 
Education— Difficulties  in  building — -The  transport  question — Kru  boys 
to  the  rescue. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

Improved  locomotion  in  our  journeying — The  arrival  of  Miss  A.  I.  Jackman, 
and  her  lamented  death — Miss  Mary  H.  Kingsley — Missionary  methods 
and  Missionary  converts  and  their  critics — The  devotion  of  Basle 
Missionaries — An  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  Gospel. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

The  British  occupation  of  Ashanti — A  respectful  tribute  to  the  British  Army 
and  Navy  as  agents  that  make  for  justice  and  mercy — An  account  of 
a  journey  to  Kumasi. 

CHAPTER  XV 

The  last  voyage  to  the  Coast,  in  company  with  kindred  spirits — A  brief 
summary  of  Mission  work,  and  references  to  three  "  Missionary-made 
men." 

PRESS   OPINIONS 

NATURE.— "We  will  take  Nine  Years  at  the  Gold  Coast  first,  both  on 
account  of  its  exceptional  charm,  and  of  its  being  the  longest  record  of 
experience  there  which  has  been  published  since  Cruickshank's  great  book. 

"  All  who  know  West  Africa  know  that  the  Rev.  Dennis  Kemp  is  one  of  the 
great  African  missionaries,  the  man  who  by  the  power  of  his  personality  and 
his  skill  in  organisation  has  made  the  Wesleyan  Mission  at  the  Gold  Coast 
one  of  the  most  thriving  and  successful  missions  in  Africa.  It  is  necessary  to 
mention  this,  because  you  get  no  hint  of  the  fact  directly  from  Mr.  Kemp. 

"  Mr.  Kemp's  book  also  contains  an  interesting  description  of  the  Ashantee 
country  and  of  many  journeys  made  into  the  bush,  and  to  the  many  towns  of 
the  Gold  Coast,  and  it  abounds  with  anecdotes  of  personal  experience.  All 
these  together  go  to  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  life  in  that  region,  making  the 
book  at  once  interesting  to  those  who  need  not  go  there,  and  highly  useful  to 
those  who  must." 

SOUTH  AFRICA. — "A  highly  interesting  report  of  the  experiences  of  the 
author.  .  .  .  The  book  is  interesting  alike  to  the  philanthropist  and  the 
commercial  man." 

GLOBE. — "  His  book  makes  very  good  reading,  and  contains  an  abundance 
of  useful  information,  from  which  may  be  gleaned  much  that  is  of  value  to 
those  whose  labour  may  differ  in  character  from  his  own." 

ACADEMY. — "  The  reader  will  find  a  number  of  interesting  things  in  this 
volume,  and  some  excellent  illustrations." 

METHODIST  TIMES.— "One  reader  at  least  has  failed  to  find  a  dull 
sentence  in  this  fresh  and  fascinating  book.  ...  A  book  which  must  be  read 

by  all  who  want  to  understand  West  Africa,  or  to  render  it  any  service 

Mr.  Kemp's  bright  and  beautifully-illustrated  book  may  be  taken  as  a  trust- 
worthy guide  on  all  these  problems  of  missionary  life,  and  everyone  may  be 
confidently  encouraged  to  read  it  through  from  beginning  to  end." 

DAILY  MAIL. — "An  interesting  and  useful  record.  .  .  .  There  is  much 
in  this  frank  and  simple  account  of  life  in  West  Africa  which  will  be  of  help  to 
future  workers  in  the  same  field." 

PALL  MALL  GAZETTE.—"  A  story  of  quiet,  unconscious  heroism,  sad- 
dened by  its  tale  of  suffering  and  death,  brightened  by  humour  and  invincible 
optimism — a  story  that  none  can  read  without  feeling  drawn  towards  its  writer.' 

GLASGOW  HERALD.—"  Of  very  great  interest." 

SHEFFIELD  DAILY  TELEGRAPH.—"  Entertaining  as  well  as  instruc- 
tive. Hearty  praise  must  also  be  given  to  the  illustrations." 

. 

MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,   LTD.,  LONDON 

[16 


Now  Ready.     Second  Edition.     Svo.     Price  145. 


THE 


SOUL  OF  A  PEOPLE 


BY 

H.     FIELDING 


'For  to  see  things  in  their  beauty  is  to  see  them  in  their  truth,' 

MATTHEW  ARNOLD 


MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

NEW   YORK  :     THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1898 


*• 


EXTRACT   FROM   PREFACE 

IN  most  of  the  quotations  from  Burmese  books  con- 
taining the  life  of  the  Buddha  I  am  indebted,  if  not 
for  the  exact  words,  yet  for  the  sense,  to  Bishop 
Bigandet's  translation. 

The  story  of  Ma  Pa  Da  has  appeared  often 
before,  but  my  version  is  taken  entirely  from  the 
Burmese  song.  It  is,  as  I  have  said,  known  to 
nearly  every  Burman. 

I  wanted  to  write  only  what  the  Burmese  them- 
selves thought  ;  whether  I  have  succeeded  or  not, 
the  reader  can  judge. 

PRESS   OPINIONS 

A  THENJEUM. — "  This  is  in  several  ways  a  noteworthy  book.  It  is  all  too 
uncommon  to  find  a  European  official  displaying  appreciative,  even  admirable, 
sympathy  with  the  religious  belief  and  life  of  an  Oriental  people  whom  he  has 
had  to  govern.  Moreover,  though  of  late  books  on  the  Theory  of  Buddism 
have  been  more  numerous  than  original,  it  is  a  welcome  novelty  to  find  the 
creed  illustrated  and  adorned  by  the  practices  of  its  followers  of  to-day." 

ACADEMY. — "An  exceedingly  interesting  book,  by  one  who  has  spent 
his  official  existence  among  the  Burmese,  and  has  learned  to  love  and 
understand  them  as  one  loves  and  understands  a  charming  family  with  whom 
one  has  been  long  domesticated.  Mr.  Ftelding  regards  the  Burmese  religion 
as  the  basis  of  the  Burmese  character  ;  and  he  opens  his  book  with  a  chapter 
on  Buddhism.  It  is  not,  however,  a  mere  recapitulation  of  the  scientific 
studies  of  Buddhism  which  the  reader  can  find  for  himself  in  many  works. 
It  is  an  attempt  to  put  together  a  synopsis  of  Buddhism  as  the  writer  has 
actually  observed  it  among  the  Burmese  ;  to  give  an  account  of  Buddhism  as 
a  working  creed.  He  declares  that  he  has  omitted  all  merely  official  teachings, 
and  has  confined  himself  to  those  features  which  he  found  actually  embodied 
in  the  lives  and  vital  belief  of  the  people.  Mr.  Fielding's  position  is  peculiar, 
and  renders  his  account  of  peculiar  value.  His  sympathy  for  the  people 
seems  to  have  led  him  into  sympathy  for  their  creed.  So  far  as  one  can 
judge,  he  would  appear  to  have  adopted  a  certain  practical  Buddhism  as 
the  most  satisfactory  theory  of  existence.  .  .  .  We  wish  we  had  space  to 
quote  the  abundant  instructive  and  fascinating  information  contained  in  this 
charming  book.  Seldom  has  a  people  been  studied  with  such  loving  intimacy 
by  a  foreigner.  Let  the  reader  consult  the  book  at  first  hand,  and  he  will 
probably,  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  be  haunted  by  the  desire  to  spend  a  year 
or  so  as  a  naturalised  Burman  in  a  village  of  the  Burmese  jungle." 

MORNING  POST.— "  The    book    sets    one    thinking;    every    chapter    is 

[18 


t 

instructive,  and  Mr.  Fielding  has  assumed  the  right  attitude  in  endeavouring 
to  see  things  from  within  rather  than  from  without,  and  has  entered  as  far, 
perhaps,  as  it  is  possible  for  an  outsider  to  enter  into  the  soul  of  the  people." 

GUARDIAN. — "  Whatever  the  other  merits,  or  demerits  of  this  volume,  it 
must  at  all  events  be  admitted  that  the  author  has  succeeded  in  producing  a 
very  entertaining  story.  .  .  ,  A  very  fascinating  book.  .  .  .  Without  a  dull 
page  from  start  to  finish." 

CALCUTTA  ENGLISHMAN.—"  The  book  is  a  fascinating  one." 

REVIEW  OF  REVIEWS.— "A  notable  book.  It  possesses  qualities  which 
make  it  of  permanent  value,  and  which  should  ensure  for  it  a  large  and 
continuous  sale.  It  is  inspired  by  profound  and  earnest  thought ;  it  is  the 
result  of  keen  and  patient  observation  ;  and  it  is  written  in  a  style  which  has 
a  charm  rarely  met  with  in  these  days  of  hurried  book-making.  To  describe 
a  strange  people  from  the  outside  as  they  appear  to  a  foreigner  is  a  difficult 
task,  demanding  special  gifts  of  the  observer.  To  understand  a  people  from 
their  own  standpoint  in  life,  to  discover  their  soul,  and  translate  it  in  such 
a  fashion  that  it  conveys  a  clear  and  intelligible  impression  to  those  whose 
ideas  of  life  differ  fundamentally,  is  a  task  of  immense  difficulty.  Mr.  Fielding 
has  attempted  it,  and  has  succeeded  in  a  very  remarkable  manner.  For  ten 
years  he  has  lived  amongst  the  Burmese,  and  has  studied  their  life  and  belief 
•with  a  sympathy  which  has  unlocked  many  secrets  hidden  to  most  men. 
Mr.  Fielding  has  not  studied  Buddhism  in  the  writings  and  customs  in  which 
it  is  petrified.  He  has  done  better.  He  has  turned  to  the  daily  lives  of 
a  nation  and  inquired  of  them  what  it  is  they  believe.  .  .  .  The  picture  which 
he  draws  is  one  of  absorbing  interest,  and  is  traced  with  a  sympathetic  touch 
which  adds  greatly  to  its  fascination." 

LIGHT. — "  We  have  just  been  reading  and  immensely  enjoying  The  Soul 
•of  a  People,  by  H.  Fielding.  It  may  seem  like  excessive  praise  to  say 
that  we  can  scarcely  remember  a  book  whose  style,  for  its  charm  of  simple 
beauty,  can  be  compared  with  it.  The  writer  of  it  is  or  was  a  British 
official  who  had  serious  work  to  do  in  Burma,  before,  during,  and  after  the  late 
war.  During  this  time,  he  became  deeply  interested  in  the  people,  and  learned 
to  admire  them  and  their  thoughts  and  ways  in  many  respects :  and  he 
dedicates  his  book  to  them,  having  written  of  them  '  as  a  friend  does  of 
a  friend.'  And  he  writes  like  a  friend, — tenderly,  admiringly,  and  with 
a  certain  undertone  of  pathos,  suggesting  loving  pity  and  longing.  We  hardly 
know  what  to  call  the  book, — whether  story,  appreciation,  analysis,  or  history. 
It  weaves  in  everything, — religion,  government,  business,  politics,  social  life, 
character  pictures,  ethics  ;  but  the  end  of  all  is  to  take  us  behind  all,  and 
make  us  feel  what  The  Soul  of  a  People  is.  The  result  is  simply  a  fascinating 
study  of  character  and  life;  and,  while  we  are  charmed  with  it,  we  cannot 
keep  back  the  hot  blush  of  shame  as  we  think  of  our  treatment  of  a  people  we 
were  too  ignorant  to  understand  and  too  masterful  to  consider  :  and  we  rather 
think  that  the  gentle  note  of  wistful  pathos  all  through  the  book  is  the  outward 
and  visible  sign  of  the  writer's  knowledge  of  this.  The  closing  chapters  on 
'  All  life  is  one,'  'Death,  the  deliverer,'  'The  Potter's  wheel,1  'The  forest  of 
time,'  and  'Conclusion,'  give  curious  and  touching  glimpses  of  Burmese  beliefs 
concerning  life  and  death  and  the  unseen.  Here  we  should  like  to  quote,  but 
dare  not  begin.  It  is  all  exquisite  and  very  human." 


[Specimen  Page] 

192  THE  SOUL  OF  A  PEOPLE 

course,  work  at  field  labour.  They  usually  learn 
to  read  and  write  at  home,  and  they  weave,  and 
many  will  draw  water.  For  to  draw  water  is  to  go- 
to the  well,  and  the  well  is  the  great  meeting-place 
of  the  village.  As  they  fill  their  jars  they  lean  over 
the  curb  and  talk,  and  it  is  here  that  is  told  the 
latest  news,  the  latest  flirtation,  the  little  scandal  of 
the  place.  Very  few  men  or  boys  come  for  water ; 
carrying  is  not  their  duty,  and  there  is  a  proper  place 
for  flirtation.  So  the  girls  have  the  well  almost  ta 
themselves. 

Almost  every  girl  can  weave.  In  many  houses 
there  are  looms  where  the  girls  weave  their  dresses- 
and  those  of  their  parents  ;  and  many  girls  have 
stalls  in  the  bazaar.  Of  this  I  will  speak  later. 
Other  duties  are  the  husking  of  rice  and  the  making, 
of  cheroots.  Of  course,  in  richer  households  there 
will  be  servants  to  do  all  this  ;  but  even  in  them  the 
daughter  will  frequently  weave  either  for  herself  or 
her  parents.  Almost  every  girl  will  do  something, 
if  only  to  pass  the  time. 

You  see,  they  have  no  accomplishments.  They  do 
not  sing,  nor  play,  nor  paint.  It  must  never  be  for- 
gotten that  their  civilization  is  relatively  a  thousand 
years  behind  ours.  Accomplishments  are  part  of  the 
polish  that  a  civilization  gives,  and  this  they  have 
not  yet  reached.  Accomplishments  are  also  the 
means  to  fill  up  time  otherwise  unoccupied ;  but  very 
few  Burmese  girls  have  any  time  on  their  hands. 
There  is  no  leisured  class,  and  there  are  very  few 


. 
MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,  LTD.,  LONDON 


[20 


Now     ready.        With   Portraits.        4  Volumes.        Demy   Svo. 
Part  I,  2   Vols.  price  25s  net.       Part  II,   2    Vols.  price  25*  net 


MEMORIALS 


PAKT   I.     FAMILY  AND    PERSONAL 
1766-1865 

PART   II.     PERSONAL   AND    POLITICAL 

1865-1895 

BY 

ROUNDELL     PALMER 

EARL   OF   SELBORNE 


MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

NEW    YOEK  ;    THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

1898- 


NOTICE 

THESE  Memorials  are  a  Trust  ;  and  therefore  it  has 
been  my  aim,  however  imperfectly  carried  out, 
simply  to  fulfil  my  Father's  intention  regarding 
them,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  judgment. 

SOPHIA  M.  PALMER. 


PRESS  OPINIONS  OF  PART  L 

TIMES. — "In  these  early  memorials  the  curious  and  persevering  reader 
will  find  vivid  and  intimate  sketches  of  a  notable  family,  of  a  happy  boyhood, 
of  schoolboy  days  divided  between  Rugby  and  Winchester,  of  a  brilliant 
academical  career,  arid  of  an ,  early  manhood  marked  by  serious  aims  and 
high  purposes  to  be  in  the  sequel  abundantly  and  conscientiously  fulfilled.  .  .  , 
Full  of  varied  interest ;  and,  if  space  permitted,  we  should  find  it  easy  and 
pleasant  to  make  copious  extracts.  '  During  the  five  years,'  as  he  says,  '  of 
my  service  as  one  of  the  law  officers,  the  most  important  part  of  our  duties 
was  to  advise  the  Government  upon  international  questions  arising  out  of  the 
American  Civil  War.'  Lord  Selborne's  comments  on  these  topics  are  no- 
insignificant  contribution  to  the  political  iand  international  history  of  the  time, 
The  case  of  the  Alabama  is,  of  course,  the  most  famous  and  the  most  impor- 
tant; but  several  others  are  full  of  interest,  and  Lord  Selborne  treats  their 
'  history  with  conspicuous  candour  and  impartiality.  .  .  .  They  abound  in 
sources  of  general  and  personal  interest.  In  literary  execution,  moreover, 
their  merit  is  considerable.  .  .  .  We  shall  await  the  sequel  of  these  two 
volumes  with  no  little  interest.  In  the  meanwhile  we  may  say  that  not  the 
least  skilfully  wrought  and  attractive  of  Lord  Selborne's  pages  are  those  in 
which  he  estimates  the  characteristics  of  some  of  his  leading  political  and 
professional  contemporaries." 

MORNING  POST.—11  It  exhibits  from  the  inner  side  a  singularly  steadfast, 
industrious,  and  upright  life,  that  cannot  fail  to  command  admiration.  .  .  . 
She  is  to  be  congratulated  on  having  so  far  accomplished  her  laborious  task 
in  a  manner  that  is  evidently  in  accordance  with  Lord  Selborne's  wishes." 

STANDARD.—11  In  all  that  Lord  Selborne  recalls  of  his  Oxford  life  and  of 
the  great  religious  controversies  which  were  just  then  beginning,  there  is  a 
fresh  and  a  living  personal  element,  which  distinguishes  these  volumes  very 
favourably  from  many  others  of  the  same  kind." 

DAILY  NEWS. — "Lord  Selborne's  description  of  his  grandfather  and 
his  uncles  is  full  of  interest,  and  gives  us  curious  side  glimpses  into  the 
actual  history  of  each  succeeding  year,  and  some  of  these  were  the  years  of 
the  great  French  Eevolution,  and  of  the  career  of  Napoleon  Buonaparte  and 
the  Restoration  of  the  Monarchy.  ...  All  that  relates  .to  Lord  Selborne's 
family  story  must  be  read  with  the  deepest  interest.  ...  One  goes  through 
these  volumes  as  if  he  were  passing  through  a  stately  portrait  gallery.  We 
are  glad  that  there  are  other  volumes  to  come — another  portrait  gallery  to  be 
opened." 

ST.  JAMES'S  GAZETTE.—11  Lady  Sophia  Palmer  has  done  the  work 
of  preparing  these  memorials  for  the  press  with  conscientious  care." 

SPEAKER. — "  It  has  a  very  high  historical  value  a^  well  as  a  biographical 
interest — the  latter  interest  including  some  graphic  sketches  of  eminent 
contemporaries — and  on  certain  historical  points  it  promises  to  be  an 
authority  of  the  highest  importance." 

[22 


PALL  MALL  GAZETTE.—11  The  Victorian  era  is  peculiarly  rich  in 
reminiscences  of  this  class,  but  few  are  more  varied  or  judicial.  As  we  go 
on  the  interest  grows,  and  tlte  utterances  become  more  weighty.  It  is  only 
natural  to  expect  that  the  process  will  be  continued  in  Part  II.,  which  will 
be  eagerly  expected." 

PRESS   OPINIONS   OF  PART  II. 

TIMES. — "  A  whole  picture  gallery  of  sketches  of  public  characters, 
generally  kindly  and.  magnanimous,  and  not  without  artistic  merit.  .  .  The 
record  of  a  life  of  singular  purity,  nobility,  and  dignity.  .  .  A  worthy  record 
of  a  life  of  which  Englishmen  may  be  proud  ;  a  life  to  be  studied,  and,  so 
far  as  possible,  to  be  imitated  by  many  far  removed  from  Palmer's  avocations ; 
a  life  less  remarkable  for  display  of  original  genius  than  of  what  is  no  less 
rare,  a  lofty  ethical  character." 

DAILY  TELEGRAPH. — "A  perfect  treasure-house  of  facts  and  in- 
formation is  here  laid  open  as  regards  all  the  momentous  years  from  1865  to 
1895,  and  many  of  the  most  famous  men  and  women  of  that  period.  A  new 
and  strong  light  is  thrown  upon  many  an  obscure  passage  of  recent  history, 
and  there  are  judgments  and  decisions  here  recorded  with  all  the  weighty 
reasons  of  Selborne's  strong  intellect  behind  them  which  will  modify  more 
than  one  general  view  and  alter  the  accepted  outlines  of  more  than  one 
prominent  character." 

MORNING  POST. — "  A  permanent  contribution  to  the  history  of  the 
Reign  .  .  .  These  volumes  will  always  have  an  attraction  for  the  student, 
and  the  reader  will  feel  grateful  for  the  care  and  judgment  with  which  Lady 
Sophia  Palmer  has  given  them  to  the  world." 

DAILY  NEWS. — "These  two  further  volumes  of  Lord  Selborne's 
Autobiography  will  amply  satisfy  the  eager  expectation  with  which  most  of 
his  surviving  contemporaries  have  awaited  them  .  .  .  Lady  Sophia  Palmer 
has  edited  it  with  the  same  sparing  but  sufficient  annotation  and  addition  of 
elucidatory  letters  and  papers  which  distinguished  the  first  two  volumes, 
and  has  added  a  touching  chapter  which  continues  the  story  of  a  noble  life 
to  the  end." 

STANDARD. — "  Those  who  demand  a  spice  of  scandal  or  a  seasoning  of 
spite  in  their  reading  will  find  nothing  in  these  volumes  to  hit  their  taste. 
But  for  that  other  class  of  readers  who  wish  to  think  well  of  humanity — who 
would  fain  hold  that  behind  and  above  all  the  inevitable  acrimonies  and 
pettinesses  of  party  polemics  a  high  conscientiousness  and  an  abiding 
solicitude  for  the  public  good  are  constant  elements  in  the  constitution  of 
a  statesman — the  picture  presented  is  full  of  encouragement." 


MACMILLAN   AND    CO.,   LTD.,   LONDON 

23] 


Now  Ready.     Demy  &vo.     Price  los.  net 

THE   LIFE  AND  LETTERS 


OF 


HENRY  CECIL  RAIKES 


HER   MAJESTY'S    POSTMASTER-GENERAL 


BY 

HENRY    ST.    JOHN    RAIKES 


31 0  n  ti  o  n 
MACMILLAN    AND    CO.,    LIMITED 

NEW  YORK:    THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1808 


PRESS   OPINIONS 


DAILY  CHRONICLE.—11  A  connected  and  entertaining  sketch  of  a  man 
who  played  an  important  part  in  public  life  and  deserved  a  higher  place  in  his 
party  than  he  received.  The  numerous  letters  quoted  are  the  best  revelation 
of  what  Mr.  Raikes  was.  It  is  a  pleasantly  told  story  of  an  active  life." 

SCOTSMAN. — "  The  story  of  an  active,  busy,  and  useful  career  has  been 
well  and  judiciously  told  by  Mr.  Raikes's  son." 

GLASGOW  HERALD. — "  It  secures  the  reader's  sympathy  from  the  first, 
and  retains  it  throughout.  .  .  .  Even  the  most  serious  and  solid  parts  are 
relieved  by  reminiscences  and  anecdotes,  which  are  aptly  introduced  and 
skilfully  told." 

ST.  JAMES'S  GAZETTE.— "The  task  of  selecting  from  what  was 
apparently  a  large  and  heterogeneous  mass  of  material  has  been  carried  out  by 
Mr.  Raikes's  son  with  conspicuous  tact  and  good  taste,  and  the  volume  will 
take  its  place  as  a  judicious  and  agreeable  contribution  to  the  records  of  official 
life  under  Queen  Victoria." 

DAILY  TELEGRAPH.— "Mr.  Henry  St.  John  Raikes  has  done  well  to 
write  this  biography  of  his  father,  which  contains  a  good  many  anecdotes  of 
political  interest,  and  presents  us  with  a  carefully-drawn  portrait  of  one  who 
was  a  typically  English  politician." 

SATURDA  Y  REVIEW. — "  The  record  is  written  with  good  taste  and  good 
temper,  and  with  no  more  partiality  than  is  graceful  when  a  son  undertakes  to 
estimate  a  father's  career." 

WORLD. — "  Many  interesting  and  instructive  glimpses  of  the  inner  life  of 
politics  during  the  Gladstone  and  Beaconsfield  regimes  and  the  first  and  second 
Salisbury  Governments  are  to  be  obtained  in  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Henry 
Cecil  Raikes,  in  which  Mr.  Henry  St.  John  Raikes  has  provided  an  acceptable 
memoir  of  an  able  politician  and  administrator,  who  in  his  day  did  excellent 
service  to  the  State  and  to  the  Conservative  party.  .  .  .  Gladstone,  Disraeli, 
and  the  meteoric  '  Randolph ' — of  whose  characteristic  attitude  towards  his 
•colleagues  and  followers  the  volume  contains  some  amusing  suggestions — are 
chief  among  the  historic  figures  who  people  these  attractive  pages." 

WEEKLY  SUN. — "A  valuable  record  of  a  Minister  who  did  important 
work  in  connection  with  the  Post  Office.  .  .  .  The  biography  has  been  written 
judiciously  by  his  son,  and  the  selection  from  his  letters  add  to  its  value. 
There  are  also  interesting  stories  of  well-known  political  men." 

YORKSHIRE  DAILY  POST.— "This  life  is  capably  written,  is  marked  by 
discretion,  and  conveys  a  vivid  picture  not  only  of  its  subject,  but  of  the 
Parliamentary  life  of  his  day." 


MACMILLAN   AND   CO.,   LTD.,   LONDON, 
as] 


Now  Ready.     Svo.     Price  los  net 
SOME  ACCOUNT  OF 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  WILSHERE 


BARON    BRAMWELL 

OF    HEVER 
AND    HIS    OPINIONS 


BY 

CHARLES    FAIRFIELD 


WITH   A   PORTRAIT 

die-  .    .  .  . 

i 

._....-• 

3L  o  n  fc  o  n 

• 

MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LIMITED 

NEW    YORK  :    THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 


;  21? 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I.    LEARNER 
II.     JUDGE 

III.  *  THE    POLITICAL     ECONOMY     OF    OUR    YOUTH 

IV.  PLAIN    WHIG    PRINCIPLES 

V.    THE    REACTION    AGAINST    ' PLAIN    WHIG     PRINCIPLES* 
VI.     CONTRACT    OR    STATUS  ? 
VII.    LAND    TENURE    AND     CONTRACT 

VIII.    TEETOTAL    LOGIC LEASEHOLD    ENFRANCHISEMENT LAND- 
LEAGUE    JURISPRUDENCE 

IX.    ANTI-RAILWAY    AGITATION TITHE    RE  NT- CHARGE WATER 

RATES  —  COPYHOLD COMPANIES*    ACT,     1862 

X.    THE    ARGUMENT    I  ROM    COMMON     LAW 

XI.    THE    LAST    CHAPTER 
INDEX 


PRESS    OPINIONS 

DAILY  NEWS.— "As  historical  documents  the  numerous  letters  of  Lord1. 
Bramwell's  which  are  published  in  this  volume,  and  which  contain  his 
opinions  on  politics,  law,  religion,  and  social  questions  generally,  have  a  real 
value." 

OBSERVER. — "  Has  the  merit  of  being  an  interesting  volume  of  biography ,- 
and  it  is  one  that  will  commend  itself  to  the  general  reader  .  .  .  The 
biographer's  own  method  cf  expressing  himself  is  remarkably  interesting  '.  .  . 
We  find  it  possible  to  recommend  the  work  strongly  to  our  readers." 

MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN.— "  No  book  about  Brarmvell  could  fail  to- 
contain  many  good  things  .  .  .  These  memorials  of  a  great  judge  will  be  read 
with  interest  by  many  both  of  the  profession  and  of  the  '  simple  laity.'  " 

ACADEMY. — "His  life-story  is  that  of  a  man,  English  to  the  core,  and 
endowed  with  great  talents,  who  wasted  none  of  his  strength,  but  kneaded  it 
and  applied  it  until  it  became  at  once  colossal  and  humane.  Lord  Bramwell 
was  a  great  judge,  not  only  by  profession,  but  in  that  he  was  everlastingly  set 
on  doing  justice.  'Anybody's  wrong  was  his  own  personal  wrong.'  Hence, 
when  he  left  the  Bench,  he  thundered  judgments  in  the  Times.  What  letters- 
those  '  B.'  letters  were — one's  brain  glories  in  them  !•  .  .  .  Mr.  Fairfield  has 
caught  the  spirit,  as  well  as  recorded  the  multifarious  facts,  of  Lord  Bramwell's. 
life,  and  he  has  succeeded  in  conveying  both  clearly  to  his  readers." 


MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LTD.,  LONDON 

27] 


Now  Ready.     In  2  Vols.     8vo.     Price  21*.  net 

THE 

MEDIEVAL    EMPIEE 


BY 
HERBERT   FISHER 

tEI.LOW  AND  TUTOR   OF   NEW   COLLEGE,    OXFORD 


3L  0  nfo  o  n 
MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LIMITED 

NEW  YORK  :  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1898 

All  rights  reserved 

CONTENTS 

CHAPTER         I.— THE  SURVIVAL  OF  THE  IMPERIAL  IDEA. 
II.— THE  RACES  OF  GERMANY. 

III.— THE  GERMAN  MONARCHY  AND  THE  GERMAN  RACES. 
IV.— LEGISLATION  IN  GERMANY. 

V.— THE  IMPERIAL  COURT  AND  THE  LAW  OF  INHERI- 
TANCE. 

VI.— IMPERIAL  FINANCE. 

VII.— THE  EMPIRE  AND  THE  GERMAN  NOBILITY. 
VIII.— THE    EXPANSION    OF   GERMANY  IN  THE  NORTH- 
EAST. 

IX.— THE  EXPANSION   OF   GERMANY   IN   THE   SOUTH- 
EAST. 

X.— THE  CHURCH  IN  GERMANY. 
XL— IMPERIAL  LEGISLATION  IN  ITALY. 
XII.— THE  EMPERORS  AND  THE  CITY  OF  ROME. 
XIII.— IMPERIAL  ADMINISTRATION  IN  ITALY. 
XIV.— THE  EMPIRE  AND  CULTURE. 
XV.— CONCLUSION. 


PRESS   OPINIONS 

TIMES. — "  He  has  set  about  his  task  very  thoroughly,  consulting  the  original 
authorities  as  well  as  the  recent  writers.  .  .  .  Headers  possessing  a  fail- 
acquaintance  with  the  facts  of  the  period  will  find  its  legislation  and  its  finance 
excellently  summarised  in  Mr.  Fisher's  chapters." 

SCOTSMAN. — "Learned  and  valuable  .  .  .  Deserves  the  attention  of  all 
who  are  interested  in  its  subject  .  .  .  All  serious  researches  into  the  matters  of 
which  the  book  treats  must  be  materially  lightened  by  Mr.  Fisher's  erudition, 
and  by  his  clear,  able,  and  interesting  statement  of  results.  The  work  reflects 
a  high  credit  upon  its  author's  learning  and  on  his  skill  in  marshalling 
a  multitude  of  facts  into  good  order.  It  forms  a  valuable  contribution  to 
historical  literature,  and  cannot  but  be  read  with  profit  by  everyone  concerned 
to  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  medieval  institutions." 


MACMILLANAND   CO.,   LTD.,   LONDON 


Now  Ready.     Demy  Svo.     Price  12*.  net 

ROMAN     SOCIETY 


IN     THE 


LAST  CENTURY  OF  THE  WESTERN 
EMPIRE 


BY 

SAMUEL   DILL,  M.A. 

PROFESSOR  OP  GREEK  IN  QUEEN'S  COLLEGE,  BELFAST 

SOMETIME  FELLOW  AND  TUTOR  OF  CORPUS 

CHRISTI  COLLEGE,  OXFORD 

• 
I 

' 


MACMILLAN    AND     CO.,     LIMITED 

NEW  YORK:    THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1898 

All  rights  reserved 


44 Mr.  BRYCE  writing  to  the  publishers  says:  "Nothing  better  in  the  way  of 
a,  study  of  social  and  intellectual  life  in  the  remote  past,  nothing  more  careful 
in  its  analysis  or  more  discriminating  in  its  judgments,  seems  to  me  to  have 
.appeared  for  a  long  time." 

(so 


EXTRACTS    FROM    PREFACE 

A  few  words  of  preface  seem  to  be  necessary  to  explain  the 
object  of  this  book,  and  the  limits  within  which  the  writer  has 
wished  to  confine  it.  It  is  perhaps  superfluous  to  say  that 
nothing  like  a  general  history  of  the  period  has  been  attempted. 
That  is  a  task  which  has  been  already  accomplished  by  abler 
hands.  The  subject  of  this  work  is  mainly  what  it  professes 
to  be,  the  inner  life  and  thoughts  of  the  last  three  generations 
in  the  Empire  of  the  West  If  external  events  are  referred  to, 
it  is  only  because  men's  private  fortunes  and  feelings  cannot  be 
severed  from  the  fortunes  of  the  State. 

The  limits  of  the  period  covered  b}-  this  study  of  Roman 
society  have  not  been  arbitrarily  chosen.  The  last  hundred 
years  of  the  Western  Empire  seem  marked  off  both  by  momentous 
events,  and,  for  the  student  of  society,  by  the  authorities  at  his 
command.  The  commencement  of  the  period  coincides  roughly 
with  the  passage  of  the  Gothic  hordes  across  the  Danube,  the 
accession  of  Gratian  and  Theodosius,  the  termination  of  the  long 
truce  between  paganism  and  the  Christian  Empire,  and  the 
reopening:  of  the  conflict  which,  within  twenty  years,  ended  in  the 
final  prohibition  of  heathen  rites.  It  closes,  not  only  with  the 
deposition  of  the  last  shadowy  Emperor  of  the  West,  but  with  the 
practical  extinction  of  Roman  power  in  the  great  prefecture  of  the 

Gauls. 

***** 

At  the  beginning  of  the  period,  Roman  society  is  sharply 
divided  in  a  determined  religious  struggle,  and  the  sharpness 
of  the  contrast  is  rendered  more  decided  by  the  increasing  fervour 
of  asceticism.  But  at  the  hottest  moment  of  the  conflict  there 
was  a  mass  of  scepticism,  lukewarmness,  or  wavering  conformity, 
between  the  confines  of  the  opposing  creeds.  The  influences 
which  inspired  that  attitude  had  not  spent  their  force  at  the  close 
of  the  fourth  century.  When  the  terrors  of  the  anti-pagan  laws 
had  produced  an  outward  submission,  the  Christianity  of  many  of 
the  noble  and  lettered  class  seems  to  have  been  far  from 
enthusiastic.  The  discipline  of  the  schools  was  a  powerful  rival 
of  the  Church.  Men  who  had  had  that  training  were  steeped  in 
the  lingering  sentiment  of  paganism,  and  looked  with  distrust,  or 
even  with  contempt,  on  the  severer  form  of  Christian  renunciation. 
One  can  scarce^  doubt  that  Sidonius,  in  his  early  manhood,  and 
some  of  his  friends  down  to  the  fall  of  the  Western  Empire,  would 
have  been  far  more  at  home  in  the  company  of  Symmachus  or 
Flavianus  than  in  that  of  S.  Paulinus  of  Nola. 

It  would,  of  course,  be  impossible  to  treat  of  society  in  such 
a  period  without  some  reference  to  those  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  higher  ideals  of  the  Christian  life.  But  they  belong  rather 
to  the  future.  Our  interest  in  these  pages  must  be  concentrated 
on  those  whose  greatest  pride  it  was  to  preserve  and  transmit  the 
traditions  of  the  past.  The  main  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  give 
some  account  of  that  worldly  society,  which,  in  its  ideals,  tone,  and 
external  fortunes,  had  undergone  but  little  change  between  the 
reign  of  Gratian  and  the  dethronement  of  Romulus  Augustulus. 

31] 


CONTENTS 

. 

BOOK  I 
THE  TENACITY   OF   PAGANISM 

CHAPTER    I. — THE  PAGAN  ARISTOCRACY  AND  THE  CONFUSION  OT  PARTIES 

,,  II. — THE    LAST    CONFLICTS    OF    PAGANISM    WITH    THE    CHRISTIAN    EMPIRE 

,,  III. S.    AUGUSTINE   AND    OROSIUS    ON    THE    CAPTURE    OF   ROME 

„  IV. SOME    CAUSES    OF    THE   VITALITY    OF   THE    LATER   PAGANISM 

BOOK  II 

SKETCHES   OP  WESTERN   SOCIETY  FROM 
SYMMACHUS  TO  SIDONIUS 

CHAPTER    I. — THE  INDICTMENT  OF  HEATHEN  AND  CHRISTIAN  MORALISTS 

,,  II. THE    SOCIETY    OF    Q.    AURELIUS    SYMMACHUS 

M          III. — THE    SOCIETY    OF    AQUITAINE    IN    THE    TIME    OF   AUSONIUS 
,,  IV. THE    SOCIETY    OF    APOLLINARIS    SIDONIUS 

BOOK  III 

THE    FAILURE    OF    ADMINISTRATION    AND    THE 

RUINS  OF  THE   MIDDLE,  CLASS,  AS   REVEALED 

BY  THE   THEODOSIAN   CODE 

CHAPTER    I. — THE  DISORGANISATION  OF  piE  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

„  II. THE     DECAY    OF    THE    MIDDLE    CLASS    AND    THE     AGGRANDISEMENT    OF 

THE    ARISTOCRACY 

BOOK  IY 

THE  BARBARIANS  AND  THE  FUTURE  OF 
THE  EMPIRE 

CHAPTER    I. — THE  GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THE  INVASIONS 

,,  II. — ROMAN     FEELING    ABOUT     THE    INVASIONS   AND    THE    FUTURE    OF    THK 

EMPIRE 
„          III. — RELATIONS  OF  ROMANS  WITH  THE  INVADERS 

BOOK  Y 
CHARACTERISTICS    OF    ROMAN  EDUCATION    AND 

CULTURE   IN   THE   FIFTH   CENTURY 

• 


PRESS   OPINIONS 

ACADEMY. — "  Mr.  Dill's  work  is  well  worthy  to  stand  beside  M.  Boissier's 
La  Fin  du  Paganisme,  and  higher  praise  we  have  not  to  give.  His  erudition 
does  not  cumber  him  :  his  style  is  lucid  and  attractive,  his  judgment  is 
impartial  and  sympathetic,  he  gives  life  and  reality  to  a  most  crowded,  various, 
puzzling  passage  of  time." 

LITERATURE.— "  And  we  now  welcome  an  important  book  on  the  Empire 
of  the  West ;  a  special  study  of  social  life  in  the  fifth  century.  .  .  .  The  book  is 
thoroughly  satisfactory,  and  is  likely  to  be  regarded  in  future  as  indispensable 
for  the  student  of  this  period." 

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